[AAACE-NLA] adult literacy & the U.S.political tradition

[George demetrion]

Hello Tanya and others,

As we know interpretation is a complex process that involves a range of 
explicit and implicit meanings in which a range of plausible perspectives is 
plausible, and in fact likely.  For our field, one critical issue is how the 
definition of literacy is interpreted, by whom and what assumptions 
undergird it.

One thinks also of that body of writing that Christians refer to as the Old 
Testament.  While there are clear affinities between various Jewish and 
Christian interpretations of those texts, as portrayed in the New Testament 
by the Apostle Paul in his various letters, drew selectively and 
discriminately  on aspects of that foundational literature that not only fit 
in, but seemed to have fulfilled the core vision of the early Christian 
community that in Christ, the Scriptures were fulfilled.  That 
interpretation, having a certain validity and integrity on its own terms, 
was and is highly contested by Jewish theologians and rabbis who obviously 
view that foundational literature in a different light.  Thus, the text 
speaks, but it does not speak for itself.  Moreover, its various meanings 
are not only often not self-evident. Rather, since interpretation depends 
not simply on the text, but on the transaction between the text and the 
reader(s), many of its various meanings remain to unfold within and through 
the crucible of history itself in which the struggle for definition is often 
contentious.  An interesting project for those who may have an interest is a 
comparison and contrast of the Christian New Testament with the Jewish 
Talmud on their mutual reflection of the foundational texts in the Jewish 
Pentateuch, the Prophets and the various books of wisdom (Psalms, Proverbs). 
  The technical term for this interpretative work is referred to as 
hermeneutics, based most fully in the contemporary period on the work of the 
philosopher Hans-Georg Gadamar, especially his opus Truth and Method

Then there is the political tradition of the United States in its foundation 
in the declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, and the Bill of 
Rights, which, in viewing the role of the relationship between education and 
the strengthening of our civic polity needs to be examined in light of the 
broader aspirations which informed this truly remarkable period of history 
in which a nation, ours, was truly invented.  No single value such as 
liberty, rights, democracy, or the rule of law dominates over the others. 
Rather, at least at its best in what the Preamble of the Constitution as our 
collective quest for "a more perfect union," they are interwoven in the very 
fabric of our public life and political culture.  In what can only be viewed 
as an irony of a very high sort, the Czech leader and philosopher Havel 
Vacal addressed the U.S. Senate some years ago on the power of these very 
values.  It was as if he was reminding us of the power of these values which 
had given shape to the Czechoslovakian Revolution against Soviet Tyranny in 
which the U.S. Senate was hearing it fresh in a way that no American 
political leader had spoken since the time of Lincoln.

Keeping in mind the radical impulse inherent in the Declaration of 
Independence that has moved well beyond the intent of its primary author, 
Thomas Jefferson (a slaveholder), let us look at the role of adult literacy 
within the fabric of our public ethos and political culture through the 
various intents and plausible meanings of the Preamble of the U.S. 
Constitution.  Let us meditate on each word and on all of the words in their 
combination.  Let us do a critical reading of the text that is before us, 
that which is declared as the foundational document of the government of the 
United States of America:

"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, 
establish Justice, insure the domestic Tranquility, provide for the common 
defense, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, 
do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

The civic intelligence and the material well-being (as opposed to 
extravagance) of the nation's population are essential dimensions to a we 
the people government in quest of a more perfect union.  The issue is not so 
much whether literacy among the adult population is a right or a privilege.  
The issue is the role of adult basic education in providing the population 
with the basic tools and knowledge to participate in and contribute to the 
very blessings of liberty to which the Constitution aspires.

I conclude with the following passage by Lincoln:

"Upon the subject of education, not presuming to dictate any plan or system 
respecting it, I can only say that I view it as the most important subject 
which we as a people can be engaged in.  That every man receive at least a 
moderate education, and thereby be enabled to read the histories of his own 
and other countries, by which he may duly appreciate the free value of our 
institutions, appears to be an object of vital importance, even on this 
account alone, to say nothing of the advantages and satisfaction to be 
derived from all being able to read the Scriptures, and other works both of 
a religious and moral nature, for themselves."


George Demetrion
----- Original Message -----
From: ttweeton at comcast.net
Sent: Saturday, December 04, 2004 10:40 PM
To: Catherine B. King; National Literacy Advocacy List sponsored by AAACE
Subject: Re: [AAACE-NLA] Re: Is literacy ability a privilege?

As I see it Catherine, a Supreme Court Justice's duty is  just to interpret 
the Constitution, not create what isn't there.

Tanya Tweeton

-------------- Original message --------------

Hello Tanya Tweeton:

Thank you for publishing the interesting quote
from Justice Powell, which I copy below:

"Education is not among the rights afforded explicit protection under our 
Federal Constitution.  Nor do we find any basis for saying that it is 
implicitly protected, thus he continues,  "this finding that education is a 
fundamental right as an argument is unpersuasive."

It is the highest of ironies that a judge, who is above all
an advocate for the rule of law, would deny that those
who are governed by that law have a fundamental
right to become able to read it.

Catherine King


----- Original Message -----
From: ttweeton at comcast.net
To: National Literacy Advocacy List sponsored by AAACE
Sent: Friday, December 03, 2004 2:37 PM
Subject: Re: [AAACE-NLA] Re: Is literacy ability a privilege?


David , this is what I know about the rights to Education in this country 
thru my studies in School Finance.

One of the most important cases involving the question of states financing  
of Education  in all districts, equitably ( which most don't)  and whether 
they should, comes from the case of  San Antonio Independent School District 
v. Rodriquez 1973, where the United States Supreme Court upheld the Texas 
school financing system ,  stating that Education was not a fundamental 
right under the federal U.S. Constitution, although  it stated that
"one of the most important services performed by the state, it does not fall 
within the small catagory of rights that the Supreme Court  court recognizes 
as being guaranteed by the Constitution."
This  case was decided by a 5-4 vote.

Justice Powell goes on to say.
"Education is not among the rights afforded explicit protection under our 
Federal Constitution.  Nor do we find any basis for saying that it is 
implicitly protected, thus he continues,  "this finding that education is a 
fundamental right as an argument is unpersuasive."

Our founding fathers do not mention Education  in the Constitution. Scholars 
surmise that they wanted to leave these decisions to the states  (being 
afraid of too much federal control ) and not follow along with what  Europe 
had done, in giving control of  Education   to  the governments.

So, I guess, maybe  then Education   should be considered a priviledge.

Tanya Tweeton
ESOL and GED programs
Fort Lauderdale, Florida