[NCL_Update] Urgent: Call Your Congressperson Before Noon Tomorrow!

[Jon Randall]

Action Alert, National Coalition for Literacy
May 7th, 2003

ACTION REQUESTED
Please call your Congressperson before Noon on Thursday, the 8th (tomorrow)
and urge him/her to oppose passage of H.R. 1261, the Workforce Reinvestment
and Adult Education Act of 2003. Get others in your program to make this
call too. If you don't get through, keep trying. The Capitol Switchboard
number is (202) 224-3121 - ask to be connected to the office of your
Congressperson. Ask to speak with your Congressperson's education assistant.

TALKING POINTS
NCL members have worked behind the scenes to address concerns with the bill.
While some changes have been made, key provisions remain unacceptable. As a
result and with regret, we must recommend that Congresspersons vote against
final passage of H.R. 1261. Here are the provisions we strongly oppose ...

*	giving governors the ability to deduct from each State adult
education grant such sums as the governor, with the advice of the State
workforce investment board, may deem appropriate to support infrastructure
and other expenses of one-stops within the State
*	denying one-stop partners seats on local workforce investment boards
*	making for-profit agencies eligible providers 
*	diminishing service to adult education by the National Institute for
Literacy
*	maintaining State leadership funds at 12.5 percent despite calls in
the legislation for greater accountability and higher quality

BACKGROUND
Here is a brief summary of why we oppose each of the provisions listed above
...

One-Stop infrastructure ... Funding for One-Stop infrastructure and other
One-Stop expenses should be proportional to the amount of funding a State
receives for partner programs. The bill language gives Governors an
unchecked capacity to reduce direct services to participants in partner
programs in order to provide unspecified support for local One-Stops.

Local Workforce Investment Boards (WIB's) ... H.R. 1261 fails to retain a
Workforce Investment Act (WIA) requirement that representatives of One-Stop
partner programs sit on local WIB's. The bill's creation of an optional
Partner's Council does little to ensure that WIB's will make informed policy
decisions regarding the services of partner programs.  

For-Profits ... For-profits should not eligible for State Grant funding.
Inclusion of for-profits as entities eligible for State Grant funding may
transfer private sector costs to the public sector rather than leverage
additional private sector resources. For-profits have not demonstrated
results superior to those of non-profits, funding and demographic factors
being equal.  

National Institute for Literacy (NIFL) ... H.R. 1261 greatly reduces the
role of NIFL to a disseminator of reading research. In effect, the bill
would force abandonment of NIFL's development of research-based curriculum
resources and standards-based reform which take into account both reading
and computation in the context of adult responsibilities which is being
implemented in 34 states. The WIA provision authorizing NIFL should be
retained in its entirety. 

State Leadership Funds ... H.R. 1261 places an even greater emphasis on
"objective, quantifiable and measurable" data and its use in helping local
programs to achieve continuous improvement. The legislation also urges
States to reach out to new provider agencies that may be totally unfamiliar
with such data management and will need constant direction.  All of these
new requirements call for a considerable increase in professional
development. The reservation for State Leadership should be restored to 15%.

PROVISIONS WE LIKE
There are a several key provisions in H.R. 1261 that we strongly support.
They include ...

*	retention of the broad purposes of the adult education (not just
employability)
*	reduction of employment-related indicators of performance to
non-core indicators
*	retention of the direct and equitable access requirement
*	retention of a set-aside for corrections
*	retention of the maintenance of effort and matching requirements

As it did at the subcommittee and full committee levels on straight
party-line votes, H.R. 1261 is expected to pass on the House floor. However,
our field *must* weigh in by phone to the greatest extent possible on the
eve of this vote to send a message that this field finds this bill an
example of poor policy-making. Such a message may serve us well when the
bill goes to conference with an eventual Senate version.

Jon Randall
Consultant, Government Relations
PROLITERACY WORLDWIDE
and Public Policy Committee Chair
National Coalition for Literacy
www.natcoalitionliteracy.org

PROLITERACY WORLDWIDE underwrites 
the coordination of NCL public policy efforts
www.proliteracy.org

FedStrategics, LLC
8413 Park Crest Drive, Silver Spring, MD 20910
Tel: (301) 588-5304   Fax: (301) 588-5353
jrandall at fedstrategics.com


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