Authorize Annual Appropriations for Adult Education of $1 Billion or More

Date: July 19, 2010

—An NCL WIA Reauthorization Priority

Article by Art Ellison, Policy Committee Chair, National Council of State Directors of Adult Education

An annual federal appropriation of at least $1 billion for adult education would represent the lowest possible figure that would indicate a serious commitment to the needs of undereducated adults in this country. The state grant appropriation level of $614 for FY11 contained in the budget submitted to Congress by the Obama administration would need to be increased by Congress to $386 million in order to reach the $1 billion level for next year.

A recent study by the National Council of State Directors of Adult Education showed that an additional $160 million is necessary at the federal level to provide services to those students placed on waiting lists by local adult education programs across the country during the 2009-2010 school year. It is anticipated that the drastic cuts in state funding for adult education in the next school year will increase the waiting list numbers to the point that even an additional $386 million from the federal level would not be adequate.

Further indications of the need for additional funds can be seen in the National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL) released by NCES in December, 2005 which reported that 93 million adults in our country have reading, math and/or English deficiencies that inhibit them from making their full contribution as workers, parents and community members

Addition federal funding will be essential whenever immigration reform legislation passes Congress and is signed by the President. Any version of that legislation will undoubtedly include funding for ESOL instruction for both currently documented and undocumented individuals who want to pursue a road to citizenship. The number in those two groups is currently estimated at 24 million people.

The possibility of gaining a $1 billion appropriation rests not on the data and information that we can and have produced supporting our cause but on the willingness of the adult education community to fully engage in the advocacy process. We know how to do this advocacy work but we do not have enough people willing to participate. It is another example of knowledge not equaling action. As President Jed Bartlett said “those who show up make the decisions.” We need many more people showing up in order to get us to a $1 billion federal appropriation.

What do you think it will take?

» The President’s FY2013 Budget Proposal—What's It Mean for Adult Education?

» Outlook on Adult Education Funding for Fiscal Year 2011

» Jobs and the Economy: Reauthorizing the Workforce Investment Act

» Why the NCL Priorities for Reauthorizing WIA Are Important: Views From the Field

Tags: advocacy, appropriations, Grassroots Advocacy, immigration, public policy, reauthorization

Comments RSS TrackBack 10 comments

Kevin Smith

in July 19th, 2010 @ 09:55

Many advocates have chronicled the negligible federal investment in adult education given the tremendous need and potential demand for services. Tom Sticht has repeatedly calculated the dollar per student served based on solely on the federal appropriation and numbers served by AELS (only programs supported by these $s). Others have considered all public sources of support. Julie Strawn indicated in 2007, based on this approach, that we are spending $645 per year, per student served.

Another study recently released indicates that New York State spend the most in the nation on P-12 instruction at over $17,000 per year, per student.

The question is as much about the level of the federal appropriation as it is about what it pays for providers to reasonably be able to accomplish with the resources. What does a $1billion appropriation enable the system, defined narrowly or broadly, to do toward improving the literacy and language skills of the estimated 93 million Americans in need of support.

By the way, $1 billion represents a $10.75 commitment to each of these 93 million Americans.

[Reply]
Kara Rosenberg Reply:
July 22nd, 2010 at 3:10 pm
Part of advocacy should be addressing Kevin Smith’s comment about what the funding will accomplish. We need to be clear about providing results.

Art Ellison Reply:
July 23rd, 2010 at 10:06 am
The clearest answer to what a $1 billion federal approrpriation will provide is: $614 million would go to providing services to the 2.45 million students currently enrolled each year, $131 million would go to provide services to the people put on waiting lists for services during the past year and the remaining $255 million would be used for states to make up for some of the state cuts in adult education funding during the current and past fiscal years (We would need a change in the supplement/supplant language in the current Act in order for this to happen. This could be done by Appropriation’s Committee action)
Art Ellison, Policy Committee Chair, National Council of State Directors of Adult Education
David Dirty Knees

in July 19th, 2010 @ 15:01

New Approaches: We need to research new solutions for helping low-literate adults to overcome their literacy barrier. One solution is to teach them how to use assistive technology so they can become employable in months rather than years. Screen readers are easy to learn, portable and are ubiquitous. We should have classes that teach people how to use screen readers, and other adaptive technology.

[Reply]
Ben Merrion

in July 19th, 2010 @ 15:50

I’m new to doing advocacy although I’ve been in this field since 97, but from my very limited time doing this, there seems to be various reasons why people don’t show up. One of them at least here in DC, is that folks feel they don’t have the time to work on these issues. Many programs lack the staff they need to just get their jobs done precisely due to cuts and lack of adequate funding. Added to that is some don’t think advocacy really works.

We did a couple of things that at least tried to address these problems in our recent, successful advocacy fight. One thing we did was try to make things as easy as we could for programs. We came up with guidelines on how to testify at a budget hearing and were willing to help those who wanted help composing theirs – both staff and students. When it came time to do a letter writing campaign, we again provided guidelines, and handed out stamped envelopes and labels with city council members’ addresses. We also really focused on getting students out because students really wanted to help, they had the most compelling stories and adult ed program staff were very busy.

Another thing that may have helped us is letting people know that it has worked in other places, such as how you all in New Hampshire did successful advocacy work. I think what’s important is knowing what the barriers are – why people aren’t coming out – and then seeing what measures we can take to address those.

I think advocacy is pretty abstract too – we might not know much about it or how exactly to do it and we’re not sure if it’s going to work if we haven’t done it before. There might be something more concrete and/or more seemingly reliable about filling out a grant application because we know that sometimes works and there’s usually detailed guidelines. But it seems to me that advocacy is just as important and can be just as successful and there are orgs like NCLA provide help. I wonder how we can communicate that.

[Reply]
Art Ellison Reply:
July 20th, 2010 at 11:17 am
Ben higlights many of the most important elements of any successful advocacy campaign, particularly on the state or in his case the district level.

The most important one from my perspective is the involvement and support of students. In examining the most successful state level advocacy campaigns over the past five years we have found that 80% of the contacts come from students. In effect that means if we are not willing to engage students in the process we are cutting off 80% of our potential to be successful.

Ben also raises the issue of all of us being too busy with our other adult education duties to have the time for advocacy. While we are making some progress with changing this perception and reality in the field the problem can probably be summed up with the comment that if we spendtas much time on advocacy as we spend on counting students for the NRS we would be in much better shape.
Dale Lipschultz

in July 19th, 2010 @ 16:14

Art’s message about the need for advocacy on the part of the Adult Ed community is very timely and more necessary than ever before. As you are know, libraries are are also on the economic firing line. As library funding for staff and operations is cut, library usage is increasing. In fact, patrons are checking out more books and DVD’s, using public access computers for social networking and job searches, enrolling kids in free preschool and after school programs… in other words, they’re discovering that the library is the best kept free resource in the community. But we all know that nothing is free — everything has a price tag. The question is how do we inform the public about the cost of this free resource and help them understand the value of library service and what would be lost if library services disappeared? The library’s best advocates include the staff that works at the frontline — serving the public. Part of the issue is librarians and library workers are not trained to be advocates. They’re trained to be content experts, information aggregators, and resource guides. But roles and expectations are changing and the library field is scrambling to keep up.
In 2009-10, ALA’s President Camila Alire focused on Frontline Advocacy. Camila, with help and support from ALA members and staff, developed tools, trainings, and resources for frontline advocates. ALA’s Annual Conference in DC was the culmination and the beginning of these efforts. In addition, to trainings and sessions, more than 8,000 librarians went to the Hill, met with their representatives, and addressed the media. Events like these are taking place at state library associations across the country.
The ALA presidential task force worked diligently to develop tools and resources for frontline librarians and library workers. My sense is that much of this could be adapted by the adult education community. This kind of advocacy takes determination and leadership, but it can be done.
Check out the resources. Send them on to your networks. Think about what you can do. Let me know how ALA and libraries can help. This is an effort we should all be involved in.

http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/advocacy/advocacyuniversity/frontline_advocacy/index.cfm

[Reply]
Nancy Reeder

in July 19th, 2010 @ 18:39

We don’t know how many adult education students might have a learning disability (LD), and many students may not know they have a LD. In order to set our students up for success and a viable educational experience, I’d like to see learning disability diagnostics funded through WIA and available for adult education students.

[Reply]
JoAnn Weinberger

in July 28th, 2010 @ 20:47

Advocacy in today’s climate of competing needs, fewer resources, and reluctance to increase revenue requires clear outcomes. As a workforce development system partner, we need to be able to demonstrate our contribution by data on transitions to training programs and post-secondary education, as well as numbers of those who have obtained, maintained, or gained promotions in jobs.
Also, in addition to advocating for the $1 billion appropriation, our field needs to enter the arena of advocating for increased revenue. To date, we have shied away from the revenue side of the equation, and that must change. Instead of competing with every other line item for increases, we need to join forces. The current Federal Medicaid (FMAP) issue reflects this argument. Thirty states have relied on this source of federal funding in order to balance their General Fund Budgets which include line items for adult and family literacy. However, our field has not yet educated our members on federal revenue issues and promoted the advocacy that’s necessary.

[Reply]
Joanie L

in August 3rd, 2010 @ 13:37

I work in the trenches so to speak, educating adults at my local workforce center. I don’t have fancy statistics to back me up, but my primary sources (my student!) have led me to the conclusion that the need for adult education has never been greater. Gone are the days when a person who was not inclined towards college could consider “just” dropping out of high school and going into the workforce. A basic education (diploma or GED) is needed for most entry- level jobs. The critical thinking and problem solving skills that are needed to go on to college or into programs that train workers in technical skills are measured by the GED or by a basic high school education. Here at the workforce center I and my team of adult basic education instructors play a key role in keeping our center compliant with WIA in that we are a one-stop locale for those who seek employment. When the case managers for the various programs at the workforce center interview clients they always ask if they have graduated from high school or have a GED. If not, they get sent to me. This education is critical in helping clients get to a point where they no longer need the assistance of government programs! So yes, it should be funded and funded properly.

[Reply]

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Authorize Annual Appropriations for Adult Education of $1 Billion or More

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Comments RSS TrackBack 10 comments

Kevin Smith

David Dirty Knees

Ben Merrion

Dale Lipschultz

Nancy Reeder

JoAnn Weinberger

Joanie L