[AAACE-NLA] Entitlement funds?

Fri Apr 4 12:12:48 EDT 2008

Dale, can you elaborate a bit about the "entitlement funds" your program has?  This is the first I have heard of that category of funding in ABE.  Is it a state thing?  

-----Original Message-----
>From: Dale Norred <dnorred at tpcg.org>
>Sent: Mar 28, 2008 8:42 AM
>To: 'National Literacy Advocacy List sponsored by AAACE' <aaace-nla at lists.literacytent.org>
>Subject: Re: [AAACE-NLA] In what state agency should ed be located?
>
>In Louisiana ABE and ESL are located in the Dept of Education.  As a parish government providing literacy in the rural
>areas  located along our bayous we provide a much need service as many can't get the public school location.  The public
>school system only offers ABE during the day; therefore doesn't meet the needs of many people.  Unfortunately the money
>stays in the public school setting and we have to rely on other funding for our program. This is difficult as most grant
>making foundations exclude public entities. Our funding comes from faith based organizations, public/private non-profits,
>United Way, CSBG and CDBG entitlement funds.
>-----Original Message-----
>From: aaace-nla-bounces at lists.literacytent.org
>[mailto:aaace-nla-bounces at lists.literacytent.org]On Behalf Of
>tsticht at znet.com
>Sent: Thursday, March 27, 2008 1:08 PM
>To: aaace-nla at lists.literacytent.org
>Subject: Re: [AAACE-NLA] In what state agency should ed be located?
>
>
>David: I vote for the Adult Education and Literacy System (AELS) of each
>stae and at the federal level to be in the Department of Education, not
>Department of Labor or Workforce Development, etc. The following note is
>relevant here. Tom Sticht
>
>
>July 16, 2005
>
>
>Moving the Adult Education and Literacy System From the Margins
>to the Mainstream of Education in the United States:
>Grounds For New Hope From the U. S. Senate
>
>Tom Sticht
>International Consultant in Adult Education
>
>The recent Senate Appropriations Committee bill concerning adult education
>contains important information about how the Committee regards the Adult
>Education State Programs administered by the U.S. Department of Education,
>Office of Adult and Vocational Education, Division of Adult Education and
>Literacy. By providing funding for FY2006 at the same level as in FY2005,
>the Committee rejected the Bush administration’s request for more than $375
>million in cuts in the State Grant funds which provide the federal
>government’s support for the Adult Education and Literacy System (AELS) of
>the United States.
>
>Importantly, the bill passed by the Committee redirects the focus of adult
>education and literacy development away from the workforce focus that
>engulfed the AELS when the original Adult Education Act of 1966 was
>incorporated into the Workforce Investment Act of 1998. The Committee’s
>language is direct in challenging this workforce focus for the AELS, and
>states, "The Committee recognizes the diverse population eligible for
>services under this program, ranging from adults striving to complete their
>secondary education to workers requiring better English skills to benefit
>from employer-provided job training and to grandparents desiring the skills
>necessary to help grandchildren to learn to read."
>
>This shows that the Senate Committee understands that the AELS aims to
>provide educational opportunities for adults that will help them achieve
>multiple outcomes. Importantly, the Committee report goes on to say, " The
>Committee  also notes that while some participants cite employment as their
>reason for enrolling in an adult education program, many program
>participants do not establish this as a goal." This directly indicates that
>the Committee understands that the AELS is primarily an education system,
>not a job training and employment program.
>
>The fact that the Committee recognizes that the AELS is an education system
>and not a job training or employment program is further evidenced by the
>Committee’s statement that, "Furthermore, even if employment is a goal,
>increased earnings might not be associated with the career goals of the
>more than one-third of adult education participants currently employed.
>Therefore, the Committee has recommended level funding for this program,
>and urges the Department to consider these facts when assessing program
>performance under the Adult Education program and the appropriateness of
>including this education program under the Administration's initiative to
>identify common measures for job training and employment programs."
>
>In making this statement, the Senate Committee is admonishing the Bush
>administration for evaluating the AELS using "common measures for job
>training and employment programs" and using these inappropriate measures
>for justifying the Draconian cuts in the administration’s request for
>funding for the State Grants in FY2006.
>
>I am especially pleased to find these comments in the Senate Committee’s
>bill because they are consistent with recommendations I made in a March
>2001 paper entitled "The POWER of Adult Education: Moving the Adult
>Education and Literacy System of the United States From the Margins to the
>Mainstream of Education". In that paper
>(http://www.nald.ca/fulltext/sticht/power/cover.htm) I argued that an
>informational activity needs to be undertaken to let those in positions to
>determine what the AELS should be held accountable for to understand the
>many educational activities and outcomes that the AELS produces. In this
>regard, I suggested that the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) should be
>renamed the Adult Education, Literacy, and Workforce Investment Act
>(AELWIA) to recognize the fact that while the AELS does produce returns to
>investment in terms of workforce development, it goes well beyond that and
>produces many other returns to investment in adult education and literacy.
>In another part of the paper I enumerated various returns to investment
>that result from participating in the AELS such as benefits in health,
>parenting, citizenship, community service, etc.  (and I notice that the
>Senate Committee added benefits in grandparenting!).
>
>In my March 2001 paper I argued that  "Today, the Adult Education and
>Literacy System is positioned to take its place alongside the K-12 and
>Higher Education systems as the third branch of the structure of public
>education in the United States." In our efforts to move the AELS from the
>margins to the mainstream we have had to overcome severe roadblocks,
>including the introduction of the National Reporting System which drove
>hundreds of community based programs and their students out of the AELS,
>and the drastic cuts to the State Grants requested by the Bush
>administration for FY2006 resulting from applying inappropriate measures to
>evaluate the benefits of the AELS.
>
>Now, with this statement from the U. S. Senate Appropriations Committee, the
>adult education and literacy field has received a great boost forward in its
>advocacy for the AELS. Once again the field of adult educators can pick up
>the banner and rally around the cry for moving the Adult Education and
>Literacy System from the margins to the mainstream of education in the
>United States.
>
>And once again, as I did in the March 2001 paper, I call upon the U. S.
>Department of Education to include the Adult Education and Literacy System
>(AELS) as an integral component of any graphic displays of the educational
>structure of the United States that the National Center for Education
>Statistics or any other government agencies provide in reports of the
>status of education in the United States. While this is a small action, it
>is an important symbolic action that can provide recognition for the
>hundreds of thousands of teachers and tutors who daily strive to provide a
>quality educational experience for millions of adult students yearly.
>
>Thanks to the U. S. Senate Appropriations Committee, there is renewed hope
>for the AELS and the millions of adults it serves. The AELS can move from
>the margins to the mainstream of education.
>
>¡Si, se puede!
>
>Thomas G. Sticht
>International Consultant in Adult Education
>2062 Valley View Blvd.
>El Cajon, CA 92019-2059
>Tel/Fax: (619) 444-9133
>Email: tsticht at aznet.net
>
>
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