NLA Very Important Info: legislative alert

[Frances Tracy-Mumford]

From:  Fran Tracy-Mumford

Subject:  Continued Work on the Appropriations Issue

Both the House and the Senate are delaying appropriations mark-ups for
education until September.  This gives us additional time to secure signatures
on the Dear Colleague letters being circulated in the House by Congressman
Sawyer of Ohio and in the Senate by Senator Patty Murray of Washington State.
	
Some of you may have heard that Congressman Sawyer's letter has already been
transmitted. This is true, but the National Coalition for Literacy has reached
an agreement with the Congressman to transmit an addendum of signatures
garnered since the original letter was sent.  Senator Murray is still accepting
signatures as well.  Congressman Sawyer's letter is addressed to the 
chairperson of the appropriations subcommittee in the House that has
jurisdiction over adult education funding, Representative Porter of Illinois.  
Senator Murray is having her colleagues sign two identical letters - one to
the chairperson of the appropriations subcommittee in the Senate having
jurisdiction over adult education funding, Senator Specter of Pennsylvania, and
one to the ranking minority member of the subcommittee, Senator Harkin of
Iowa.  Copies of the Sawyer letter to Porter and the Murray letter to Specter
can be found at the end of this alert.
	
The House was scheduled to have had a mark up July 21.  It was called off at
the last minute, but amounts to be recommended were leaked.  Despite a
predisposition on the part of Congressman Porter's subcommittee to increase our
funds, and despite a plea from the President in his State of the Union message
(the first time we have ever been included), the subcommittee's recommendation
for adult education was for level funding.  Both the Administration and our
friends in Congress said that they would go to bat for us if we would go to bat
for them by mounting a major legislative effort to support increased funding. 
Except for a few States, this major effort has not materialized.  Adult
educators, students and stakeholders have shied away from active support for
fear of antagonizing legislators.  In truth the best way that we can antagonize
our friends in Congress and in the Administration is by failing to give them
the support that they need!  We will not get an increase unless the two
appropriations subcommittees hear from their colleagues that there is
both reason and support for such an increase. WE HAVE NOW BEEN GIVEN A
SECOND CHANCE.  WE MUST NOT BLOW IT!
  
In his recent posting on the NLA Bulletin Board, Tom Sticht has given us ample
rationale for our request for an increase.  He reported that, in constant 1995
dollars, federal support per pupil for adult basic education has diminished
from $274.00 to $73.00.  Moreover, In constant 1995 dollars,  funding per
enrollee  for adult education has grown from around $274 (federal dollars only)
in 1966 to $276 (combined federal, state & local dollars)in 1998, about $2 per
adult in over 30 years, a rate of growth of less than seven cents a year per
enrollee -  even taking into account the huge increase in state and local
support.
             
So - once again - this is what we need to do. We need letters,
faxes and e-mails to go to Senators asking them to sign on to two "Dear
Colleague" letters (one to Chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee Arlen
Specter and one to Ranking Minority Member Tom Harkin) being circulated by
Senator Patty Murray of Washington. We also need faxes, e-mails and letters to
go to members of the House of Representatives urging them to sign onto the
Sawyer letter.  But we especially need phone calls to follow the letters
specifically asking the legislative aides who handle adult education for each
Senator or Representative whether or not the Senator or Representative will
agree to sign onto the letters.  (It is especially effective to find out in
advance which aide handles adult education issues for the Senator or
Representative and to copy that aide on all letters)
          
Persistence does pay off .  For example in Massachusetts the entire
Congressional delegation except for one Congressman agreed to sign onto either
the Sawyer letter in the House or the Murray letters in the Senate.  The one
Congressman who refused to sign on sent his own separate letter asking for an
increase in funding for adult education.
	
One objection that some Republican Senators have raised is that the caps
imposed by the Balanced Budget Resolutions of 1997 will not allow increases. 
Actually, everyone knows that the caps are very likely to be rescinded by
bi-partisan agreement, but nobody wants to be first to do this for fear that
they will be accused of breaking the bank.  So they use this as an excuse to
avoid signing on. (Yet, one major Republican Senator, DeWine of Ohio, has
recently agreed to sign on.)  But if a Senator or Representative absolutely
refuses to sign on because of the caps, ask if he or she will send his or her
own letter requesting, should the caps be lifted, the increase in the adult
education appropriation as laid out in the Murray letters or the Simon letter.
Callers may also be asked where the offset is to come from to fund such an
increase, i.e. where compensating cuts should be made.  Our callers should
avoid getting into that argument - simply stating that they are asking for this
increase on its own merits and
quoting the Sticht numbers.
	
Members of the House of Representatives  agreeing to sign on to the Sawyer
letter should still get in touch with Eric Heberlig in Congressman Sawyer's
office at 202-225-5231.)  Senators wishing to sign onto the Murray letters
should contact Greg Williamson at 202-224-2415.

THE SAWYER LETTER

The Honorable John Edward Porter, Chairman
Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Subcommittee
2358 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Chairman Porter:

We are writing to ask for your support for a $565 million appropriation for
state grants for adult education and family literacy. We also ask you to
support the National Leadership Activities of the Department of Education and
the National Institute for Literacy, especially $15 million for capacity
building activities for national networks of not-for-profit literacy
organizations that serve adults who read at the lowest level of literacy.These
activities include: expanding the use of technology, improving outcomes
measurement, expanding public-private partnerships, and increasing professional
development efforts.

There is a substantial demand for literacy assistance. The National Adult
Literacy Survey shows that about 40 million adults read at or below a fifth
grade level - far below the level needed to succeed in today's job market. All
adult literacy funding combined - public and private - serves fewer than 15% of
those who function at the lowest level of literacy. There are long waiting
lists for classes across the country, particularly in urban areas.

The requested funding will help literacy programs serve more students. These
funds also would help programs improve the quality of services they provide by
increasing the level of professional training. This would help to ensure that
adult literacy programs meet the new quality and accountability standards
required of all education and training programs by the Workforce Investment Act
of 1998.

The federal investment in adult education and family literacy enables adults to
get the literacy skills they need to succeed as workers, parents, and
citizens. It also leverages important state, local, and private dollars. The
$1.2 billion federal investment from 1992-1996 leveraged an additional $4.3
billion in state and local funding for adult literacy. And many not-for-profit
literacy organizations receive between one-half and two-thirds of their revenue
from private sources.

Thank you for your consideration of this request.

Sincerely,



THE MURRAY LETTER



The Honorable Arlen Specter, Chairman
Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Subcommittee
711 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510

Dear Chairman Specter:

We are writing to ask for your support for a $565 million appropriation for
state grants for adult education and family literacy.  We also ask for an
additional appropriation of $122 million to support National Leadership
activities of both the Department of Education and the National Institute for
Literacy (NIFL).  Of this appropriation, we request at least $6 million for
NIFL ongoing activities.  Also from this $122 million appropriation, we request
$15 million for capacity building activities for national networks of
not-for-profit literacy organizations that serve adults who read at the lowest
level of literacy.  These activities include: expanding the use of technology,
improving outcomes measurements, expanding public-private partnerships, and
increasing professional development efforts.  There is substantial demand for
literacy assistance.  The National Adult Literacy Survey shows that about 40
million adults read at or below a fifth grade level - far below the level
needed to succeed in today's job market. All adult literacy funding combined - 
public and private - serves fewer than 15 percent of those who function at
the lowest level of literacy.  There are long waiting lists for classes
across the country, particularly in urban areas. The requested funding
will help to both improve the quality of literacy programs through
professional training and increase the number of students they serve.
This would help to ensure that adult literacy programs meet the new
quality and accountability standards required of all education and
training programs by the Workforce Investment Act of 1998. The federal
investment in adult education and family literacy enables adults to get the
literacy skills they need to succeed as workers, parents, and citizens.  It
also leverages important state, local, and private dollars. The $1.2 billion
federal investment from 1992-1996 leveraged an additional $4.3 billion in state
and local funding for adult literacy.  And many not-for-profit literacy
organizations receive between one-half and two-thirds of their revenue from
private sources.

Thank you for your consideration of this request.

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