JMG works

As Maine’s revenue pie grows, so does the appetite of programs hungry for more. While this presents lawmakers with many tough decisions in the coming weeks, one plate clearly deserving a bigger slice belongs to Jobs for Maine’s Graduates.

JMG, a non-profit corporation, was established by the Legislature in 1993 to develop a statewide system of school-to-work transition and dropout prevention services, and it has done those things exceedingly well.

The number of high school and vocational school sites has nearly doubled from the original 24. More than 6,000 students — predominantly academic low-achievers, poor, unmotivated and in danger of dropping out — have recieved the help and guidance they need to stay in school, to develop good work habits and to pursue an occupation. The dropout rate has been halved at many JMG schools and participating students log more than 16,000 hours of community service each year. Five hundred Maine businesses generously support the program with money, advice and workplace training opportunities. For three years running, JMG has been recognized as the nation’s best statewide system for the education and employment of disadvantaged youth.

What has not improved as JMG enters its fifth year is the level of state support — it has remained at $750,000 per year, about one-third of the program’s $2.3 million budget. Meanwhile, having proven itself to the schools its serves and the businesses it works with, JMG has seen its local and private sector support grow to $400,000.

But this is a crucial year for the program, as the five-year start-up federal grant, funded through the School to Work Opportunities Act, is being phased out. It was clear from the beginning that federal support, initially as high as 56 percent of the JMG budget, was just to get the program on its feet. That has happened, so it’s time for the state to step up.

The Appropriations Committee will hold a hearing today on a bill, which has bipartisan sponsorship, to increase the state’s contribution by $515,000 to replace the dwindling federal funds. Failure to do so wouldn’t just shut out 10 schools now waiting for a JMG presence, it could lead to the closing of 14 existing sites.

In school, on the job and before the Appropriations Committee, performance is what counts. JMG has delivered, and now it’s time for the Legislature to so the same.