[AAACE-NLA] Who is persuaded by what arguments?

[AWilder106@aol.com]

David,

This is a really good question.  I'll be interested in how people respond. 

If I were a legislator I would respond positively to economic arguments. I would also respond if in my district there were a number of voting low literate people. I think advocacy efforts should  include substantive fact-filled reasons for supporting adult literacy. These reasons should be well-thought out, then reduced to very simple language that a legislator can remember and  promote, and that advocates can remember and promote.

I would also respond positively to ESL, it seems obvious that  people should speak English and classes should be provided by federal, state, local governments. 

I once took a class at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, where I  spent a lot of time around legislators and would-be legislators.  I noticed that they were all in perpetual running-for-office mode. Ed School students were different, promoting Sisyphean causes, not an upbeat lot. 

Business School students were very upbeat, optimistic, and forward looking.  

What I would do, given these characteristics, would be to ally myself with a business group, learn what motivates them, get knowledge of their arguments, and promote adult literacy WITH business groups--collaboration.  This way of thinking  might not be very appealing to list serv members, but I have noticed some VERY strange political bedfellows when there is an overlap of interest in a common issue.

Andrea