Murt Urges Legislature to Increase Education Funding to Improve Workforce Readiness
HARRISBURG—Rep. Thomas Murt (R-Montgomery/Philadelphia) joined Gov. Tom Wolf and Pennsylvania's Adjutant General Maj. Gen. Anthony Carrelli at a press conference to release a new report that revealed most young adults in Pennsylvania do not qualify for military service.
“This is a sobering report and should be a wakeup call to the Legislature,” Murt said. “We not only need to increase funding for early childhood development, but we must create tools to prepare our middle and high school students for future careers in the military and in the private sector. The current situation is clearly a risk to our national security and our economy."
According to the report, “Workforce Readiness: The National Security Threat from Within,” 71% of young adults in Pennsylvania between 17 and 24 do not qualify for military service.
Complicating matters, due to low unemployment and competition with the private sector for qualified young people has significantly contributed to the U.S. Army missing its 2018 recruiting goal by 8.5% or about 6,500 recruits. The Army National Guard and Reserve missed its 2018 goal by a combined 17,000 recruits.
These deficiencies led the Army to lower its annual growth expectations from 4,000 soldiers per year to 2,000 soldiers per year as the Army looks to grow the active duty force to half a million.
“We must address this trend, or we risk not having a sufficient pool of talented recruits to serve in our military or in our civilian workforce in the future,” Murt said.
You can read the report here.
Representative Thomas P. Murt, Ed.D.
152nd District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: David Foster
267.207.0207
dfoster@pahousegop.com
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