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Unemployed Seek GED To Get Better Job

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By ADAM EMERSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 27, 2009

TAMPA - At a nondescript building near the corner of Armenia and Sligh avenues, dozens have sought salvation from the darkening economy in adult education.

On one side of the building, Marino Martinez, 55, is learning the English language to find better work beyond the smattering of cleaning jobs he and his wife have found in Tampa. In his native Colombia, Martinez worked as a civil engineer. But most employers here have turned him away. "We just want a better job," he said.

On another side, Priscilla Hernandez, 23, is studying for the GED, anxious to find work to support a son at home and another child due in April. Her husband recently left, and, with no high school diploma, she had no job prospects. "I had nothing," she said through tears. "I want my children to say, 'She did what she had to do to make a better life for us.' They are my motivation."

With unemployment rising, they and hundreds more out-of-work adults in Hillsborough County are swamping adult education classes to prepare for the General Educational Development test or to strengthen their English-speaking skills.

Demand for GED classes alone in Hillsborough County increased about 20 percent in the last six months of 2008 from the same period the previous year, according to school district figures.

Each student has a story, but all are there for the same underlying reason: the economy has boxed them into a corner and they need a better education to fight their way out.

Martinez and Hernandez are attending classes at SUPPORT Inc., one of dozens of adult education centers in Hillsborough County whose programs are administered by the school district.

Like most of those centers, the demand for services at SUPPORT Inc. has created a constant waiting list.

As the economy worsens, however, it becomes harder for schools to meet that demand. State revenues to the school district have declined, so it becomes harder to open more programs when doors are closed to students who must wait.

While enrollment has spiked, state support for workforce education has declined by 4 percent, said Michelle Loango, an adult education administrator for the Hillsborough County School District.

But the same economic forces socking state revenues are pushing more people back to school.

Many of these students found plenty of work during the Bay area's boom years, but rising unemployment has made them unattractive to employers who can select applicants with advanced degrees, Loango said.

Even the GED isn't the final step, Loango said. Many who successfully take the test move on to technical education or to a community college for a shot at a better job.

"Now, they have the time, unfortunately, to pursue a higher education," Loango said.

Reporter Adam Emerson can be reached at (813) 259-8285.

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