June Update from NCL Policy Director

Congress is now moving forward with consideration of appropriations bills for fiscal year 2009. The House Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies is due to markup on June 19, 2008, with full Committee markup scheduled for June 25. As you know, the most critical action takes place at the Subcommittee level, where Members establish funding levels for programs under the Subcommittee’s jurisdiction. In general, few changes are made at the full Committee level. Following this action, the bill will be forwarded to the Full House of Representatives for consideration.

The Senate is also moving forward with their version of this legislation, with markup scheduled for June 24, 2008.

As mentioned in several action alerts, this is the time for calls to Members of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees requesting $750 million for adult education and $100 million for Even Start.

Also of interest at the present time is an effort by the Administration to put into place a new Director of the National Institute for Literacy (NIFL). The Coalition and State Directors have written letters to the Interagency Group governing the National Institute for Literacy, requesting that they delay action until a new President takes office. Copies of the Coalition letter were forwarded to the NIFL Advisory Board and Senator Kennedy and Chairmen George Miller and Ruben Hinojosa in the House. A copy of the NCL letter will be posted on the website.

Congressman Ruben Hinojosa, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Higher Education, Lifelong Learning, and Competitiveness of the House Education and Labor Committee has also written a letter to the Interagency Group questioning their actions.

In other news, Jennifer Maloney and I attended the Great American Education Forum, put on by the Association of Educational Publishers. The purpose of the forum was to hear from the key educational staff people for the Obama and McCain campaigns. Lisa Graham Keegan, Principal, The Keegan Company, represented Senator McCain and Jeanne Century, Director of Science Education and the Director of Research and Evaluation, University of Chicago’s Center for Elementary Mathematics and Science Education, spoke for Senator Obama.

Although the primary focus was on K-12 education, there were several statements of interest to adult education and family literacy. Jeanne Century said that Senator Obama’s education plan includes lifelong learning, everything from nutrition to ensuring parents have what they need to bring children to school ready to learn.

Both Jeanne Century and Lisa Graham Keegan spoke of investment into research and development. Ms. Century said that scientifically-based research is important but has limitations. She said we need to fund research that answers a wide range of questions. Because something works in one setting doesn’t mean it works or can be used in another setting. She also stated we need to have a way to disseminate knowledge. We need to build a bridge between research and those ultimately using the research.

Ms. Keegan said that Senator McCain feels research is an important role for the federal level and that we need to invest in research and development.

In the area of funding, Lisa Graham Keegan said we can’t focus on everything at the same time and do it well. She stated that McCain wants to focus on things such as teachers and students.

In the area of English language instruction, Ms. Keegan stated that Senator McCain supports English Plus. He is opposed to measures that try to enforce a particular type of instruction. But he believes that all individuals need to speak English as quickly as possible and does not support transitional programs that claim it takes seven to nine years to teach English.

On the same subject, Jeanne Century said that by 2010 about one-third of children in elementary schools will speak a language other than English and we need to address their needs with a range of strategies. She said we do not know which strategies are more important in which settings. She said we need to reach and identify which strategies are effective with which children in which language. She said the Senator believes everyone should be able to speak English well.

A final topic is the introduction of the “Strengthening Communities Through English and Integration Act of 2008.” This measure, sponsored by Congressman Honda (CA), is expected to be introduced in the near future. This draft legislation would, among other things, increase funding for Even Start, provide a tax credit for employer-provided adult English literacy and basic education programs, incorporate the ESL/Civics program into the current Adult Education and Family Literacy Act, create a National Office for New American Integration, and transfer two percent of all certain fees collected by the Department of Homeland Security to the Department of Education for ESL/Civics programs.

Although there is little possibility this bill will be enacted this year, it will definitely be considered next year when Congress once again looks at reauthorizing the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. As such, we should review it carefully and work with the sponsors to strengthen the bill in areas we believe appropriate.

There is a lot going on and the year is not over yet.

Lynn Selmser

NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND PROPOSED CHANGES

The National Coalition for Literacy submitted the following proposal to modify the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The major purpose of the proposal is strengthen the relationship between programs under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and adult education and family literacy programs and improve parental involvement by strengthening the literacy skills of parents in order to allow their full participation in the education of their children.

Adult Education rated ‘Effective’ by Office of Management and Budget

Adult Education was rated an “Effective” program by the Office of Management and Budget; the rating is based on the Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART). This is the highest rating a program can achieve. Such programs set ambitious goals, achieve results, are well-managed and improve efficiency (from the OMB website). The website - http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/expectmore/ summary/10000180.2006.html - further states:
• Recent evaluation findings and project performance data indicate the program has positive effects and has achieved its performance goals for high school completion, postsecondary education or training, and job retention. The percentage of Adult education students who obtained a GED or high school diploma increased by 55 percent from 2001 to 2006.
• The program recruits, retains, and assists more people from its target population at a lower cost than other job training programs. In 2004, the Federal cost per high school diploma or GED attained by adults or out-of-school youth was $3,081, compared to a range of $12,000 to $90,000 for other Federal job training programs.
• The program developed data quality standards, encouraged States to use common assessment tools, and improved the National Reporting System to collect comparable grantee performance data.

The Role of the National Coalition for Literacy

The Public Policy role of a membership organization like the National Coalition for Literacy is to:

1. Become the Collective Voice.
The ability to speak with one voice is a major asset. Too often in the past public policy makers especially in the Congress could point to the contrasting views from the field as a rationale for not acting in our behalf.

2. Valuing the Accomplishments of its Constituents.
The Coalition supports and encourages the activities of its constituent agencies, such as the CAAL occasional papers and conferences such as COABE and VALUE.

3. Promote investment in adult literacy by the general public. Sponsor planned events and reports.

4. Work with special interest groups that have a stake in adult literacy such as welfare associations, employers and labor groups, health professionals, family educators and technology experts. Connecting with associations that represent these groups such as CLASP (the Center for Law and Social Policy), the Workforce Alliance, and the American Medical Association.

5. Work with key Congressional Committees on upcoming legislation in which adult literacy has a stake. For example, WIA and TANF, Higher Education Act, Perkins Vocational Technical Education, and Head Start. Being a resource to Congress by providing both solicited and unsolicited information, being especially vigilant and timely with respect to solicited information so that we are viewed as a valuable resource leading to more frequent communication.

6. Examining administration proposals and working with OVAE on their efforts to involve the full range of agencies that have a stake in raising the adult literacy level.

7. Examining and commenting upon proposed regulations that implement newly enacted legislation.

8. Last – but definitely not least – keeping members and the field informed of developments, initiatives, and concerns by published minutes of Public Policy Committee meetings and by occasional papers devoted to high profile issues. Within the limits imposed by law seeking grass roots support for positions taken by the Coalition.