Loading ...Date: November 10, 2009
Congress May Not Reauthorize the
Adult Education and Family Literacy Act AGAIN.
It’s Time to Change That NOW.
- Click the image above to look up your US Senator or Representative.
Tell your US Senators and Representative to
Reauthorize the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) Title II Now.
Congress is in danger of not reauthorizing the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) Title II, also known as the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA).
This legislation creates federally funded adult education programs and the law has not been changed since it was authorized in 1998. The NCL has worked hard to recommend changes to WIA Title II that will allow our field to move forward and adapt to changing times. But if we don’t urge Congress to act now, there may be no reauthorization this Congress. There is a brief window of opportunity to reauthorize WIA next, after health care reform. But the authorizing Committees need know their constituents want them to do this.
Can you contact your Senators and US Representative today?
Then, click here to tell us you made your contact. Encourage your state or region to tell us they made their contacts, and we will share a copy of the results for your state, upon request (jackie@jataylor.net).
Below you’ll find a sample message and talking points. Share your letters with other adult literacy advocates using the comments box below. See the FAQs and post any questions you may have.
Call your US Senators and Representative today.
Message:
Reauthorize the Workforce Investment Act (WIA), Title II NOW.
Is your Senator or Representative on the authorizing Committee? Check here:
Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee
House Education and Labor Committee
If so, urge them to reauthorize WIA Title II now.
If they are not on an authorizing committee, give them this message: “Please contact your colleagues on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee and the House Education and Labor Committee and urge them to reauthorize WIA Title II now.”
Deadline: Wednesday, November 18, 2009
How: Calls, faxes, emails.
Contact Information: Locate your US legislators’ contact information using ProLiteracy’s or TESOL’s interactive map.
Goal: We need 50,000 contacts made to the Hill on this issue. Please make yours one of them.
Talking Points: Below.
Click here to tell us you made your contact.
TALKING POINTS
We have prepared these talking points for your use when communicating with your Senators and Representatives on this issue. Feel free to put them in your own words, and to supplement them with local information on unemployment, demand for services, and program outcomes.
- AEFLA reauthorization is vital to the effectiveness of adult education nationally. The law has not been changed since WIA was first authorized in 1998.
- The economic crisis has resulted in a significant increase in demand for services but our capacity to serve adults has not increased. One reason for this is that AEFLA has not been reauthorized, signaling that adult education and family literacy is simply not a priority.
- President Obama has set this goal: “By 2020, this nation will once again have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world.” There aren’t enough adults who are college-ready. We need to reauthorize AEFLA to provide opportunities for adults with limited literacy and English language proficiency to improve and to make a successful transition to post-secondary education and training.
- Adult education is part of the solution to turning around the economy and putting Americans back to work. Adult education moves adults with limited literacy and limited English proficiency into postsecondary education, training, or jobs with family sustaining wages. It increases their employability and economic stability.
- Reauthorizing WIA Title II can strengthen the ties between Title I and Title II programs, making it easier for unemployed and underemployed adults to access adult education services.
- Many local programs have not been allowed to compete for grants since WIA has not been reauthorized. Reauthorization would allow states to recompete the grants, and to update their state plans. This will help programs meet the demands of changing times and demographics by encouraging innovation and program effectiveness.
