[AAACE-NLA] What is purpose of AELS?

[Merle Ayres]

I always thought that adult ed. was to meet the most needed to get into the 
workforce. If its a stepping stone to college then we are catering to a 
select group. Not all kids want or can go to college as my neighbor reminded 
me again and again. To be a good skilled worker is good enough goal for 
adult ed. To go on to college is a personal choice and ok too.In my own 
situation it was personal choice with help from Nixon with the G.I. bill. 
After Vietnam many colleges were full of ex servicemen. Some went to 
technical school. some went to work. I think the goal whatever in this 
democracy is to get on to self sufficiency. Not as some farmers say. Quote " 
what do I get" from the new farm bill that I overheard at a trackmeet. 
Hopefully not all my farmer friends think this way as some do work darn 
hard. The government should be in the business to help people out with 
funding, but make them a good taxpayer like they should be.

Merle Ayres
412 8th st. North
Humboldt,Iowa 50548
Tel.1-515-332-4630
Fax 515-332-1738




>From: "Debbie Yoho" <dwyoho at earthlink.net>
>Reply-To: dwyoho at earthlink.net,National Literacy Advocacy List sponsored by 
>AAACE<aaace-nla at lists.literacytent.org>
>To: "aaace-nla" <aaace-nla at lists.literacytent.org>
>Subject: Re: [AAACE-NLA] What is purpose of AELS?
>Date: Sun, 5 Mar 2006 13:12:53 -0500
>
>Tom Sticht is absolutely right in noting a gradual shift away from the
>traditional roles and functions of the AELS.  I have commented before on
>this list that the impact of the WIA of 1998 and the NRS has largely been
>to shift resources away from those most in need toward those closer to the
>achievement of a GED or high school credential, because these learners
>generate more impressive accountability data.  Many on this list, including
>me, predicted this shift years ago,  the moment the WIA was passed, and
>Adult Education was placed under a labor law.   I have also said that the
>mission of the publicly-funded AELS is diverging from the mission of
>community-based volunteer literacy programs like mine, who are struggling
>to maintain a commitment to those "at the end of the line".  I believe all
>of this is happening within the context of globalization and its pressures.
>The world has moved to embrace a Darwinian attitude that winnowing out the
>weakest among us is a good thing.  I have stopped offering justifications
>for our program as a wise investment or as a bootstrapping service to get
>people off welfare roles and onto the tax roles.  More and more, I must
>defend our services to those who are truly the most in need as simply the
>right thing to do.
>
>Debbie Yoho
>dwyoho at earthlink.net
>Director, Greater Columbia Literacy Council
>aka Director, Literacy Division, Volunteers of America of the Carolinas
>Office:  803-765-2555  Fax:  803-799-8417
>www.literacycolumbia.org
>
>
>
> > [Original Message]
> > From: <tsticht at znet.com>
> > To: <aaace-nla at lists.literacytent.org>
> > Date: 3/3/2006 1:30:53 PM
> > Subject: [AAACE-NLA] What is purpose of AELS?
> >
> > Aaace-nla colleagues: Some time ago I posted a message about how the 
>Adult
> > Education and Literacy System (AELS) seems to be being transformed more
>and
> > more from an adult education system with the purpose of helping adults
>meet
> > a wide variety of educational needs, to a second-chance K-12 system in
> > which the goal is to have adults learn what is taught in the K-12 system
>to
> > move from secondary to post-secondary, college education. The recent 
>posts
> > by David Rosen and Hal Beder arguing for moving more adult learners from
> > the AELS into post-secondary education seems to be consistent with this
> > trend. To me this raises the important question of what services the 
>AELS
> > should be offering. I have always considered it an opportunity for the
> > hardest to reach, most underserved adults, with the greatest need for
>adult
> > literacy education. Of course, the need for ESL (ESOL) has been and
> > continues to be an important component of the AELS, too. But I am 
>troubled
> > by the move toward having the AELS focus attention away from the most
> > difficult to reach and teach and to move to a college-prepatory program. 
>I
> > would like to know what others think. Tom Sticht
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