[NLA] News About Massachusetts (long, but passionate)

[Gail Spangenberg]

Friends, In his eloquent posting about regrouping for adult literacy 
in Massachusetts, David Rosen urged advocates and others who care to 
be alert and ready to act in defense of adult literacy in their 
states.  I believe he is on target here and that the states are apt 
to follow the strong federal signals now in evidence against adult 
literacy. The Massachusetts story is very likely to be repeated 
elsewhere.  David has just done, and has long been doing, an enormous 
public service.  Gail Spangenberg, Council for Advancement of Adult 
Literacy



>NLA Colleagues,
>
>Several NLA subscribers have e-mailed me to learn more about the sudden
>threat to public adult education in Massachusetts. Below is my
>explanation of what has happened and what we are doing about it.  I have
>also included the URL of a 5-minute audio clip , with students at the
>Massachusetts State House, which gives you a good sense of what this
>budget cut will mean for students, but also of their active
>participation in turning this around. (Note that you may need to
>download Media player - free -- to play the audio clip. Instructions are
>on the Web page.)
>
>In Mid-November, Massachusetts was the only state which had not yet
>passed a FY 02 state budget.  There are many reasons for this, but one
>was the rapidly declining tax revenues, and an unwillingness of the
>Speaker of the House to commit to a budget which did not take this into
>account.  But time was running out -- a budget was needed.  The adult
>education and literacy community in Massachusetts kept its collective
>ear attuned, but no one was saying there would be any cuts for adult
>education. Then suddenly, the day before Thanksgiving, something beside
>the turkey's neck got chopped.  We did.  The leadership in the
>Legislature put together a budget for an up-or-down vote (no
>consideration of line items) and adult education was slashed 44%. (They
>meant to slash adult ed by 50% but they thought the line item from the
>previous year was $34M, when it was actually $30M.) So we lost $13M out
>of a $30M budget. But, since this is late in the fiscal year, and
>programs have been spending at the same rate as last year, there is only
>enough money left now to fund programs through January or early
>February.  By February most publicly-funded programs will close or
>cancel nearly all of their classes.  Because a cut of this size is a
>failure of the state to maintain effort, in the next federal fiscal year
>Massachusetts can lose all its  $10.5M federal funds -- and after that,
>perhaps more state funds until public adult education will disappear in
>our state.
>
>Gulp.  Is this possible?  In Massachusetts?  Yes....however,
>
>Since we heard this news, the Massachusetts Coalition for Adult
>Education, and programs and students and friends of adult literacy
>across the state have been in high gear  education and advocacy mode .
>As you may know, for many years our state has been well organized for
>adult literacy advocacy.  We have had good leadership in the state
>education department and strong activists at the grass level. We have a
>well-run state professional organization and a vital, new statewide
>adult learner organization.  Practitioners and students know how to
>advocate, and over the years, increasingly have seen the importance of
>advocacy to their work.
>
>So in the past week or so there have been thousands of phone calls,
>cards and letters sent to Legislators and to the Acting Governor.  By
>yesterday, when students, practitioners and supporters called the State
>House, aides answered right off "Is this about adult education?"  We
>have been on the radio, in the press, in State House press conferences,
>on the State House Steps, in Legislators' offices -- working with Mayors
>and other local officials.  The Mayor of Boston yesterday publicly
>denounced this cut (and other serious cuts) which would affect the
>city.  Yesterday, the Acting Governor announced she will submit a
>supplemental budget this week with a $12.5M (of the $13 M) restoration.
>The Speaker of the House and Senate President have both now said that
>restoration of adult education funds are a top priority.
>
>Have we succeeded?
>
>Not yet.  We don't have the bird in our hand yet -- and when we do --
>there may still be a budget cut -- although a small one.  It's  too soon
>to rest.  The fight must continue until we know that all the funds have
>been restored -- and beyond.
>
>Why is this important to the NLA list which, after all, is not about
>Massachusetts, but about adult literacy advocacy at the national level?
>
>Many states are now re-visiting their budgets in light of revenue
>shortfalls.  In many cases adult education and literacy are vulnerable,
>are regarded as marginal, expendable.  This is a budget line item which
>is often misunderstood as adult auto mechanics, cake decorating and
>crafts.  I think the current Massachusetts experience may soon be
>experienced in other states.  I urge adult education advocates in every
>state to be prepared.
>
>What does it mean to be prepared:
>
>1.  There is an active statewide adult education advocacy organization
>(or advocacy committee of a statewide professional organization)
>2.  This group is organized: It has a membership list with phone,
>address, and e-mail addresses for every member.  It has a telephone and
>fax tree to get the word out fast.  It has a list of effective
>short-term and long-term strategies.
>3.  There are well-developed alliances and collaborations with other
>organizations: statewide job training organizations, Local Workforce
>Investment Boards (LWIBS), and collaborations at the community level
>4.  There are good relationships with Mayors' Offices -- with City
>leaders ready to advocate for adult education if needed.
>5.  There is a champion in the Legislature -- ideally one in the House
>and one in the Senate for adult education and literacy
>6.  There are student activists who are part of all these planning and
>action activities.
>7.  Ideally there is a statewide adult learner organization which sees
>advocacy as part of its role.
>8.  There are leaders -- people from the field who are ready to dig in
>and hold on for victory regardless of what it takes.  These are people
>in for the long haul -- who understand that these battles are part of
>the work of adult education and literacy - that the battles never go
>away, that we never are allowed to "just go back to teaching and
>learning," that for practitioners and students alike, advocacy for adult
>literacy is as much as part of the work -- the vocation -- as teaching,
>and that there is overlap, that in a democratic society this is how
>students and teachers learn -- first hand -- about democracy and how it
>works.
>
>The audio clip will be found at:
>
>http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wbur/news.newsmain?action=article&ARTICLE_ID=311175
>
>David J. Rosen
><DJRosen at theworld.com>
>
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-- 
Gail Spangenberg
President
Council for Advancement of Adult Literacy
1221 Avenue of the Americas - 50th Fl
New York, NY 10020
212-512-2362, fax 212-512-2610
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