National Coalition for Literacy

—Good News!

By Jackie Taylor and Ellen Fern

Congressman Roe and Congressman Hinojosa have released a Dear Colleague letter inviting House Members to join the House Adult Literacy Caucus. They have also provided us an updated list of Caucus Members. The paperwork that needed to be refiled and processed with the House Administration Committee for the new Congress is now complete, and the Co-Chairs have committed to growing the bipartisan caucus by significant numbers.

Action:

1. Please review the updated list below.
2. If your Congressional Representative is not on the list, then contact the legislative assistant who handles education issues in your Representative’s office and ask that your Member consider joining the Caucus. They are more likely to join if they know they have a constituent base that cares about adult education issues. It is key to grow a bipartisan Caucus in order to show broad support for adult education. Currently, we have more Democrats than Republicans in the Caucus. Thus, if your Representative is a Republican it is especially important that you invite him or her to join.
3. If you cinch a commitment from your Representative, contact Jackie Taylor (Jackie@jataylor.net) so that we may follow up as needed.

If your Representative is already on the Caucus List, be sure to write your Representative’s office to express your appreciation for his or her participation in the House Adult Literacy Caucus!

Second Good News: The National Coalition for Literacy (NCL) and the House Adult Literacy Caucus are co-hosting a Hill Briefing on May 12, 2:00 – 3:00 pm, for Representatives and their staffs. Invited speakers include:

• Jennifer Foster, Senior Director for Adult Education and Family Literacy/State Director of GED Testing, presenting the Shifting Gears work in IL
• Alex Quinn, Project Director, Education Development Center, presenting TV411’s new NSF-funded initiative, What’s Cooking?
• Steve Reder, Project Director and Professor, Portland State University, presenting Adult Literacy, Digital Literacy and the National Broadband Plan

See: New Partners, New Solutions—21st Century Approaches to Adult Literacy for more information and the link to register.

Thank you to legislative staffs Matt Meyer, John Martin, Rosa Garcia, and Ricardo Martinez for their assistance with the House Adult Literacy Caucus. Thank you to Heidi Silver-Pacuilla (American Institutes for Research) and Marsha L. Tait (Literacy Volunteers of Greater Syracuse) for identifying the speakers that help make this event possible, and to the planned speakers for joining us on May 12!