It is the classic story of bad things happening to someone trying to do good. Like the Old Testament tale that befell the tragic biblical figure of Job; students and staff at the federally funded Sierra Nevada Job Corps seem about to lose everything. It’s turning into a test of faith of how much our government can do to bridge the opportunity gap for a growing number of American youth who are falling through society’s ever-widening cracks.

The Trump administration’s current budget doesn’t include funding for the 60-year old workforce training program for 16-24 year olds who have grown up primarily in poverty and dropped out of traditional high schools. I was told by Job Corps staff that two-thirds of the boarding school students housed at the former Stead Air Force Base come from southern

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