Councilman Polensek Urges Public Opposition to Job Corps Closure

Jun 06, 2025

Councilman Mike Polensek is urging Cleveland residents to take a stand against the federal government’s plan to close the Cleveland Job Corps, a long-standing initiative that provides critical job training and education to disadvantaged youth.

Established under the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, Job Corps serves low-income individuals aged 16 to 24 who face significant barriers to education and employment. Participants must be U.S. citizens or legally authorized to work, meet specific income requirements, and demonstrate at least one obstacle to securing work. Cleveland’s Job Corps center is located on Coit Road at East 140th Street, adjacent to the Greater Cleveland Food Bank.

Despite the U.S. Department of Labor’s announcement in late May to terminate operations at Job Corps centers nationwide, a federal judge intervened on Wednesday, temporarily halting the shutdown ordered by the Trump administration.

Councilman Polensek expressed outrage over the move, stating, “I worked many years ago with the late Honorable Stephanie Tubbs-Jones and my colleague at the time, Roosevelt Coats, to make the Job Corps a reality on the former site of the Fisher Body Plant for the soul purpose of providing critical job training. What I find inconceivable is that in the US House and Senate, Republicans have been clamoring for more technical and vocational programs, while at the same time, President Trump is about to decimate these programs like our Cleveland Job Corps.”

I am calling upon all citizens to contact our Ohio U.S. Senators—Bernie Moreno and John Husted—to express their opposition to this unsound and hasty decision.

“Virtually everything they are proposing right now in Washington, with regard to job training programs, goes against what Americans need. If the Job Corps is not working as it should, then fix it; not dismantle it,” Councilman Polensek added. “They don’t seem to get it in Washington.”

For additional information, please feel free to contact Councilman Mike Polensek at (216) 664-4236 or via email at mpolensek@clevelandcitycouncil.org.