Reactions to the President’s Proposed FY 2011 Budget
Adult Basic and Literacy Education State Grants, National Leadership, EL / Civics, and Even Start
By Jackie Taylor, NCL Policy Co-Chair
On February 1, 2010, the President released his budget proposal for FY2011. Below is the proposed budget for Adult Basice and Literacy Education State Grants, National Leadership, EL / Civics, and Even Start, as found in the Fiscal Year 2011 Budget Summary, retrieved from the Department of Education website .
Please post your comments or questions in the Comments box below.
- What are your reactions to the proposed budget?
- From your perspective, what are the implications for adult learners?
- What could this mean for adult education and literacy programs?
- What do you look forward to see happening?
- What are your concerns?
We will continue to update this Blog article as we learn more.
Thank you,
Jackie Taylor
Adult Education (Adult Basic and Literacy Education)[i]
(B.A. in millions)
2009 2010 2011Request Adult Basic and Literacy EducationState Grants $554.1
$628.2
$612.3
National Leadership Activities 6.9
11.3
41.3
National Institute for Literacy 6.5
—
—
Total
567.5
639.6
653.7
“Adult Basic and Literacy Education State Grants assist adults without a high school diploma or equivalent to become literate and obtain the knowledge and skills necessary for postsecondary education, employment, and self-sufficiency. The request is $15.9 million below the 2010 level, but actually reflects an increase of $30 million in program support because the 2010 level included a one-time increase of $45.9 million to compensate certain States for errors in calculating formula grant awards between fiscal years 2003 and 2008. The forthcoming reauthorization of the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA), Title II of WIA, provides the Department with the opportunity to better align the Adult Education program with Federal job training programs and the postsecondary education system. The Department is preparing legislative options for reauthorization involving innovative programs that include technology, career pathways models, and high school completion models with multiple pathways.
The request for State Grants includes $75.0 million for the English Literacy/Civics Education set-aside, equal to the 2010 level, to help States and communities provide English learner adults with expanded access to high-quality English literacy programs linked to civics education. The request for National Leadership Activities includes a $30 million increase to support a Workforce Innovation Fund. These funds, along with an identical amount in Vocational Rehabilitation, would be part of a Partnership for Workforce Innovation, which encompasses $321 million of innovation funding in the Departments of Education and Labor. The Departments will coordinate to award competitive grants that would encourage innovation and identify and validate effective strategies for improving the delivery of services and outcomes for beneficiaries under programs authorized by the Workforce Investment Act. This investment would create strong incentives for change that, if scaled up, could improve the effectiveness of the workforce system. Other National Activities funds would continue support for activities intended to increase the literacy and workforce skills of our Nation’s native-born adult population, as well as the growing need to meet the English language acquisition, literacy, and workforce skills gaps of the immigrant population. The Department also would use National Activities funds to support priorities previously carried out by the National Institute for Literacy, which was eliminated in the 2010 appropriation.”
Even StartThe President has proposed to consolidate 38 ESEA programs, including Even Start, into 11 new programs as a part of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act reauthorization proposal. Of the 38 programs, the President proposes to consolidate the following six programs into an “Effective Teaching and Learning: Literacy” unified program:
- Even Start
- Literacy through School Libraries
- National Writing Project
- Reading is Fundamental
- Ready-to-Learn Television
- Striving Readers
According to the Office of Management and Budget[ii]:
“This program, which supports projects to improve educational opportunities for children and their parents in low-income areas by integrating early childhood education, adult education, and parenting education into “family literacy” programs, would be consolidated into the proposed Effective Teaching and Learning: Literacy authority, in part due to evaluation findings that children and adults participating in Even Start generally make no greater literacy gains than non-participants.”
To see how the 38 consolidated programs crosswalk over to the 11 new programs, visit the ESEA Consolidation Crosswalk .
[i] Retrieved February 1, 2010, from the Department of Education website. Career, Technical, and Adult Education Proposed Budget Summary
[ii] Retrieved on February 1, 2010 from Terminations, Reductions, and Savings document.
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Kevin Talley
in February 1st, 2010 @ 20:18As one, among many, who has been working for well over a decade with former Chairman Goodling to help preserve Even Start funding, this dog-eared attempt by the Administration to lump it in with other ESEA literacy programs is misguided. The good news though, and unlike some other ESEA programs, the Administration does not ask that the program be eliminated. We are making progress.
Nevertheless, the Administration’s new solution is to create 11 new education silos under their “Effective Teaching and Learning for a Complete Education” program. The silo subset for existing ESEA literacy efforts is the Effective Teaching and Learning: Literacy unified program. As planned, this consolidation will combine 6 programs (Even Start, Striving Readers, Literacy through School Libraries, National Writing Project, Reading is Fundamental, and Ready-to-Learn Television) into a new literacy silo.
As described therein, the consolidation would take effect with the passage of the next reauthorization of ESEA. That of course has been planned now for 3+ years. Clearly, the authorizers proceed on a different time clock then the appropriators. One could suggest it is optimistic to assume the reauthorization would be signed, seal, and delivered before the appropriators have concluded their subcommittee and full committee mark-ups. And of course, once the appropriation is approved separately for each of these six literacy programs, separate they will remain for FY 2011 budget cycle. I understand that the House and Senate appropriations senior staffs are in a quandary on how they will be able to “cure the clock” on the appropriations and authorizing functions.
Of course, the largest problem for Even Start, the only federal education program that focuses on children from birth to 8 years old, is the process of melding these programs into one conglomerate. Then the prior uniqueness of being the only federal program that involves the family in learning literacy and parenting skills, will be lost.
[Reply]
Heidi Silver-Pacuilla Reply:
February 2nd, 2010 at 5:33 pmI’m very curious about how this will play out:
The request for National Leadership Activities includes a $30 million increase to support a Workforce Innovation Fund. These funds, along with an identical amount in Vocational Rehabilitation, would be part of a Partnership for Workforce Innovation, which encompasses $321 million of innovation funding in the Departments of Education and Labor.
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Andy Tyskiewicz
in February 2nd, 2010 @ 10:06I see the Workforce Innovation Fund as a start in the needed efforts to promote collaboration between DOL and DOE. Given the economic situation and the need for well trained workers this approach is a no brainer. the rubber will meet the road in the quality of the products and services developed. During the listening sessions that I attended facilitated by Dr. Brenda Messier there were many comments and rich discussions on what works and potential best practices. Locally we have experienced, success with integrated basic skills and vocationally oriented programming. An opportunity to fortify our experiences through a dedicated funding stream that is more than hype and produces real results is certainly welcomed. The field is ready to once again roll up their sleeves and put our knowledge to use in developing new expanded models. We will need to continue our focus on accountability and work to support and reward the implementation of models that work. Breaking down operational barriers between labor and education can only help. Our relationship between the sectors in Connecticut is very positive and has given us an insight into the world of possibilities when committed individuals with different perspectives come together. COABE will assist this effort in any way it can.
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