[NLA] Re: NLA Action: Input Requested for New Literacy Legislation

Thu Oct 4 14:03:08 EDT 2001

Colleagues, et al:

Below is an article published: The Telegraph Group
London  (page 23 The West Australian September 17,
2001) and called: "Nazis confront lessons of history."

In the light of the recent conversations about:

 (1)  Surplus literacy

 (2)  Terrorists and the educational and political context
            they emerge from

 (3)  Input Requested for New Literacy Legislation

 (4)  Suggested unprincipled actions by many flag-
             waving Americans in the name of those very
             principles

In the light of the above, I thought this article would speak
again to the relationship of literacy and continuing adult
education to not only (1) the workforce, but also to (2)
education's civilizing dimension and how it impacts
the political and even spiritual development in us.

This larger dimension of "continuing civilization" is
always at work in our programs even if we do not know it
or address it directly, and should be considered by any
policy maker as a given foundation not only of our
education programs, but of our democracy and of
our claims to a civilized culture.

I should not have to mention how this "big picture"
understanding will effect funding regardless of how
much we view a "literacy surplus" with regards to
workforce investment.    Here is the article:

Vienna

Austrian neo-nazis are being offered the chance to
avoid jail by agreeing to take lessons about the
country's nazis past.  The program has been
developed by prosecutors in Linz, capital of the
province of Upper Austria, where Adolf Hitler was
born.

Austria has tough laws banning the possession of
National Socialist material and the propagation of nazi
ideology but Upper Austria still proves a magnet to
the far-Right. Only recently, police smashed a 1000-
strong neo-nazi network in the area.

The ringleaders face up to five years in jail but almost
50 more junior members have been given the chance
to avoid court.

They have had to agree to take the History and
Democracy course at Linz university. If they pass,
all charges will be dropped.

"Our scheme is aimed at young people who mainly got
involved in neo-nazi activities under the influence of
alcohol, and today regret it," Siegfried Sittenthaler,
head of the Linz Public Prosecutor's Office, said.

So far two groups have taken the first stage of the
course with further lessons planned for the autumn.
They have to pay the $320 fee themselves and
spend three hours a week at their lessons.

Course leader Irene Dyk said the classes had been
so well received that students often came early, left
late and even joined the teacher for a beer afterwards.
"Our immediate target is very modest - to help a few
youths from having to go to court," professor Dyk said.
"But our long-term target is to show that there are
other ways of living."

Professor Dyk said it had become clear from working
with the former neo-nazis - all aged between 17 and
20 - that peer pressure, boredom and alcohol abuse
were behind their drift to the far-Right rather than a
belief in race hate and Aryan supremacy.

- The Telegraph Group London  (page 23 The West
Australian September 17, 2001) -

Regards,

Catherine King
Adjunct Instructor
Department of Education
National University
San Diego, CA

----- Original Message -----
From: Jon Randall <fedstrategics at home.com>
To: 'NLA listserv' <nla at lists.literacytent.org>
Sent: Tuesday, September 25, 2001 8:38 PM
Subject: [NLA] NLA Action: Input Requested for New Literacy Legislation

> Your Input Wanted by Thanksgiving
> For New Federal Literacy Legislation
>
> Dear Literacy Supporter,
>
> The National Coalition for Literacy (NCL) is spearheading efforts to
produce
> an omnibus literacy bill in the U.S. Congress. Such a bill will call for
> changes in a number of public laws that impact adult and family literacy
in
> this country. We welcome your input between now and Thanksgiving Day.
>
> The concept paper for this bill can be found at
> www.natcoalitionliteracy.org. Click on Commitment 3 on the Policy and
> Legislation page. Then click the link to the Omnibus Literacy Legislation
> page.
>
> Please look over the concept paper and forward suggestions. Pass it along
to
> others in your organization's network and urge them to make
recommendations.
> Convene focus groups to review the paper and make suggestions. The NCL
will
> accept input until Thanksgiving Day, November 22nd. Please send your input
> to OLL at fedstrategics.com.
>
> BACKGROUND
> This began as members of the NCL Public Policy Committee compiled a list
of
> all of the recommendations from the National Literacy Summit Action Agenda
> that require legislative fixes. Next we asked the national organizations
> that make up the NCL what additional provisions they'd like to see in such
> legislation. This concept paper includes provisions from both sources. Now
> we're circulating this draft to get recommendations from a wider audience.
>
> We're hoping to get input on a broad array of federal laws - not just the
> Workforce Investment Act - anything that touches adult education and
> literacy programs, teachers, volunteers, adult learners, nonprofit
> organizations, charitable contributors, immigrants, individuals with
> disabilities, and anything else you think is relevant.
>
> We're asking for input from adult education and literacy programs at every
> level, individuals, researchers, corporate supporters, grant-making
> entities, government agencies at every level, labor unions, and others. We
> want to lay the groundwork for a piece of field-driven legislation like
the
> National Literacy Act of 1991.
>
> IMPLICATIONS FOR LOCAL PROGRAMS
> How many times have we heard "Why don't they just ...?!" Work on this
> omnibus literacy bill provides every sector of the literacy field the
> opportunity to have its unique policy needs addressed legislatively - to
> advocate for solutions based on experience. Local programs, putting their
> heads together with similar entities at the state or national level can
> recommend legislative provisions to improve funding equity and to improve
> the federally funded programs under which providers operate.
>
> PROACTIVE LEADERSHIP
> While policy-makers on Capitol Hill address imperatives generated by
current
> events, their education staffers continue to grapple with issues like
> literacy. Although external forces shape political agendas, so too do
social
> movements like ours. Senators and Congresspersons stay in office by giving
> the electorate what it wants.
>
> For years we have longed to be proactive. We now have the vehicles to be
> proactive: the National Literacy Summit Initiative and this omnibus
literacy
> bill. We can educate Senators and Congresspersons about adult and family
> literacy and frame future policy discussions by outlining both needs and
> preferred solutions.
>
> We can wring our hands about being at the mercy of external forces or we
can
> step up and exert real public policy leadership for our social movement.
> Providing input now for this omnibus literacy bill is one place to start.
>
> PROCESS
> By Thanksgiving, please contribute your thoughts and improvement
suggestions
> on things already in the draft concept paper. Also send us recommendations
> for additional provisions. We're not looking for legislative language,
just
> the CONCEPT and the RATIONALE behind the recommendation. If you can
identify
> the law that should be amended, that's great. If you can't, that's okay.
> We'll figure it out.
>
> Example:
> Concept ... Change the distribution formula for the adult education state
> grants to address the needs of ESL students.
> Rationale ... The current formula does not take into account the ESL
> population. As a result, appropriators have provided a set-aside within
> state grants to address the inequity of the existing distribution formula.
>
> The NCL will review the recommendations received, and add to the concept
> paper those that it feels can be supported by all constituencies. Not
> everyone will agree with all of the provisions. This legislation must meet
> the needs of multiple constituencies. Therefore, we must think as broadly
as
> we can and oppose only those things with which we absolutely can't live.
NCL
> members have done a little horse-trading to build such consensus on
> provisions in similar legislation in the past. We expect to have to do it
> again for this paper.
>
> NEXT STEPS
> Between now and Thanksgiving Day, the NCL welcomes input from a broad
array
> of constituencies to improve the concept paper. Between Thanksgiving and
New
> Years Day, the NCL will revise the concept paper based on the input
received
> and ask a House or Senate member to draft the bill. While it is being
> drafted, we will ask House and Senate members that have supported our
> efforts in the past to become initial cosponsors. Shortly after the first
of
> the year when the draft bill is available for review, cosponsor
solicitation
> will accelerate as literacy supporters around the country use it to
educate
> and engage Senators and Congresspersons in the cause of literacy.
>
> TWO-YEAR STRATEGY
> Early next year, an omnibus federal literacy bill will be drafted and
> introduced by supporters on Capitol Hill. It will be based on this concept
> paper for which we seek your input now. Once drafted, literacy advocates
> around the country can use it to educate and engage Senators and
> Congresspersons by asking them to cosponsor this bill.
>
> In its entirety, this bill may not be enacted into law. However, we can
use
> it to shape the federal literacy policy agenda in 2002.  Efforts to
> reauthorize the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act as well as the
rest
> of the Workforce Investment Act must begin in 2003. In part, this bill
could
> frame the issues for that reauthorization. Through this omnibus literacy
> bill, we can advocate for the improvement of provisions in other public
laws
> as well during the next two years.
>
> THE NATIONAL COALITION FOR LITERACY
> The National Coalition for Literacy includes 45 public- and private-sector
> agencies with a national focus on adult and family literacy. Many of them
> have national networks of individual and organizational members. The NCL
> strives to forge a unified, proactive voice for the literacy field in this
> country and lead advocacy efforts for sound public policy and increased
> resources. Check us out at www.natcoalitionliteracy.org.
>
> Please look over the concept paper on our web site's Policy and
Legislation
> page. Then by Thanksgiving Day, November 22nd, forward recommendations to
> NCL Public Policy Committee chair, Jon Randall at OLL at fedstrategics.com.
> Together we can create a comprehensive bill that truly reflects the needs
of
> the field. We look forward to your input!
>
> Sincerely,
>
>
> The Executive Committee
> National Coalition for Literacy
>
> Marsha L. Tait, Chairperson (Literacy Volunteers of America, Inc.)
> Noreen Lopez, Vice Chair (PBS Literacy Link)
> Edith Gower, Secretary (National Alliance of Urban Literacy Coalitions)
> Dale Lipschultz, Treasurer (American Library Association)
> Robbin Sorensen, Past Chair (Executive Management Services)
> John Sabatini (National Center on Adult Literacy)
>
> #   #   #
>
> Jon
>
> *  *  *  *  *
> Jon Randall, Public Policy Committee Chair
> National Coalition for Literacy
>
> FedStrategics, LLC
> strategic advocacy & public affairs consulting
> to charitable organizations
> www.FedStrategics.com
>
> 8413 Park Crest Drive, Silver Spring, MD 20910
> Tel: (301) 588-5304   Fax: (301) 588-5353
> jrandall at FedStrategics.com
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> NLA mailing list: NLA at lists.literacytent.org
> http://lists.literacytent.org/mailman/listinfo/nla
> LiteracyTent: web hosting, news, community and goodies for literacy
> http://literacytent.org

_______________________________________________
NLA mailing list: NLA at lists.literacytent.org
http://lists.literacytent.org/mailman/listinfo/nla
LiteracyTent: web hosting, news, community and goodies for literacy
http://literacytent.org