[AAACE-NLA] Reach Higher, America and Hope for Change

[Debbie Yoho]

Tom, where did you get your employment and volunteer figures from?  Not
that I am disputing the data; I just want to look into it myself., and I
would like to use the data and need a source to cite.   Thanks, Debbie

Debbie Yoho
Division Director, TURNING PAGES/VOAC
   (formerly the Greater Columbia Literacy Council)
Secretary, SC Association for Adult Literacy Education
803-765-2555    fax  803-779-1657 
PO Box 1447, Columbia, SC  29202
yohogclc at earthlink.net

"True progress preserves order amid change and preserves change amid
order."  (John Morgan, You Can't Manage Alone)



> [Original Message]
> From: <tsticht at znet.com>
> To: <aaace-nla at lists.literacytent.org>
> Date: 7/23/2008 8:17:42 AM
> Subject: [AAACE-NLA] Reach Higher, America and Hope for Change
>
>
> Colleagues: In the Reach Higher, America report I did not see much about
the
> personnel who work in the Adult Education and Literacy System (AELS) of
the
> United States, what their employment situation is, and what it should be
> under a new system as envisioned in the Reach Higher, America report. So
> here are some thoughts along these lines.
>
> In 1997-98 there were 177,943 personnel working in the Adult Education and
> Literacy System (AELS) of the United States. Of these, 69,129 (38.8%) were
> part-time, 22.890 (12.8%)full-time, and 85,924 (48.2%) were volunteers.
> There were 4,020,550 enrollments, about 23 enrollments per personnel.
>
> After implementing the National Reporting System in 1999, by 2004-05
> personnel had dropped 19% to 144,169, with 70,923 (49.1) part-time, 22,155
> (15.3%) full-time, and 51,891 (35.9%) volunteers, and enrollments dropped
> 35.8% to 2,581,281, about 18 enrollments per personnel. I have not found
> information about the wages of the part- or full-time personnel.
>
> Some thoughts about how AELS personnel might be paid come from the
American
> Federation of Teachers (AFT). It estimated that in 2004-05 the average
wage
> for teachers in the K-12 system was $47,602, while that for beginning
> teachers was $31,753.
>
> If the beginning level teacher wages of $31,753 were applied to the
144,169
> personnel of the AELS in 2004-05, this would have required funding of some
> $4,577,000,000. Instead, combined federal and state funds for the AELS
came
> to around $2,250,000,000, or approximately $15,600 per personnel, less
than
> half what a beginning K-12 teacher would have earned in 2004-05.
>
> If the AELS were to serve 10 million adults in the year 2020, just half of
> what the Reach Higher, America report calls for, then assuming the
> enrollment to personnel ratio stayed constant at 18 enrollments to one
> personnel, then the AELS would require some 550,555 personnel. If they
were
> paid the wages of a beginning K-12 teacher, then funding of 
$17,640,537,915
> would be needed. Assuming a wage increase of 2% a year from 2005 to adjust
> wages for inflation, then in 15 years the total of wages would have to be
> multiplied by 1.30 which would come to $22,932,699,290. Of course more
> funding would be needed if a significant percentage of the personnel were
> paid the average wage for K-12 teachers.
>
> If the goal of providing a world-class lifelong learning adult education
and
> literacy skills enhancement system that is on a par with the K-12 system
is
> to be realized, then it seems reasonable that full-time, wage earning
> educational personnel should staff the system. Otherwise it would appear
> that the United States does not take the education of generally socially
> isolated, marginalized, undereducated men and women seriously. I hope that
> changes!
>
>
> Tom Sticht
>
>
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