[GLCnews] FYI: Nationwide Campaign on Adult Education Appropriation

[Margery Freeman]

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

Please take time to act on the recommendations below and pass the
information on to anyone you think will promote this important campaign!

Subject: Nationwide Campaign on Adult Education Appropriation

MEMORANDUM

To:  Single Point of Contact

From:       Patricia Bennett, Art Ellison, Co-Chair, Policy Committee,
National Council of State Directors of Adult Education

Date: February 8, 2005

Re:      Nationwide Campaign on Adult Education Appropriation

The National Council of State Directors of Adult Education (NCSDAE), along
with its Single Point of Contact (SPOC) network, is initiating a nationwide
campaign to fight the budget cut to adult education funding contained in
President Bush's Fiscal Year 2006 Budget Proposal.

The information in this memo, along with the attached documents, is intended
to assist you as the Single Point of Contact to set in motion the campaign
at the state level which will connect thousands of citizens with their
Representatives and Senators in Washington.

Numbers
We have set a goal of 750 letters from each Congressional district and 750 x
the number of Congressional districts in each state for the number of
letters to each US Senator. This would mean that Montana would have a goal
of 750 letters to their one member of the US House of Representatives and
750 to each of the two US Senators. California would have the same goal of
750 letters per Congressional district and with 53 Congressional districts;
the goal for each US Senator from that state would be 39,750 letters.

It is also important that state and local program directors write letters to
all members of the House and Senate from their state. Sometimes a local
director is the only person who can summarize data about a program's impact
in the local area.

Based upon the numbers above we are asking each person to write three
letters, one to their Congressperson and one to each of their two US
Senators. The letters can be identical in content, with only a change in the
address.

Further guidelines on letter writing can be found in one of the attachments
to this message.

Timeframes and Networks
Some states already have networks in place that can be used to generate
letters of support; other states will have to create a network. Local
program directors and local teaching staff will be of critical importance to
our efforts. Without their active participation it will be impossible to
generate the number of letters needed to convince members of Congress that
adult education programs need their support.

Congressional Districts
The attachment on Population Centers in Congressional Districts will be
helpful in identifying the areas within a district that may have larger
adult education programs. Printable maps of each Congressional District can
be found at http://nationalatlas.gov/ by clicking on Printable Maps, then
Congressional Districts for the 108th Congress. Texas is the only state
where substantial changes in the Congressional districts have been made for
the 109th Congress.

Feedback
It is extremely important that you be able to track the number of letters
sent from programs and individuals in each Congressional district and for
the entire state. We have found in the past that this feedback portion of
our work often is lacking, however it is the only way that we can determine
whether or not our efforts are working. Please include a feedback mechanism
in all of the communications that you send to local or regional coordinators
of this effort. The number of letters
sent by Congressional district and commitments should be recorded online at
NCSDAE's website at www.ncsdae.org or you may go directly to the URL at
http://www.AdvancedSurvey.com/default.asp?SurveyID=21891.  For commitments
you may go to http://www.AdvancedSurvey.com/default.asp?SurveyID=21894

Information for Local Programs
The proposed 66% cut in federal funding for adult education would have the
effect of shutting down adult education programs throughout the states or
cutting all existing programs by that percentage. In addition to the cut to
adult education funding the President has once again recommended no funding
for Even Start programs.

Assistance for Single Points of Contact
There will be many questions at both the state and local level as we move
through the next eight months to the end of the appropriations process,
hopefully by Sept. 30, 2005. It will be helpful if you could share some of
the written communications that you develop for your state. For instance
your memo that goes to local networks asking for letters might be useful as
a sample to people in other states. Please feel to send copies of that
document and any others of interest to aellison at ed.state.nh   We will
continue to send materials through the Single Point of Contact Network that
will help you in this campaign.

As the questions arise throughout the process feel free to contact Art
Ellison the email address above or by calling 603-271-669
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