[NLA] [Fwd: Re: NLA post from dcornellier@doe.mass.edu requires approval]

[David J. Rosen]

NLA Colleagues,

If you had difficulty opening the Boston Globe article, try cutting and 
pasting this in your browser:

 http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/227/nation/English_language_classes_in_short_supply+.shtml 

David J. Rosen
NLA List Moderator


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NLA Colleagues,


Today's Boston Globe describes one of our country's most serious education
problems, one which in Massachusetts, New York, Texas, Florida, California,
Oregon, Iowa, Arkansas and Delaware, among other states, has resulted in
long waiting lists for adult education services.  Immigrants, desperate to
learn English for: work, daily living, participating in in democratic way
of life, and helping their children and other family members, cannot find
free English language classes and often cannot afford to pay for them.


This is an issue that conservatives, liberals, and progressives can agree
on.  This is intolerable in a democratic society.  If your city or town has
waiting lists for English language learning, it is time for public policy
advocacy.  "No waiting lists for English" would be a good slogan (and bumper
sticker) to organize around.


Read the article and learn what leaders across the country have to say about 
this problem, including:


    *  Barbara L. Strack, director of the Center for the New
    American Community at the National Immigration Forum in
    Washington

    *  Westy Egmont, executive director, and Marcia Chaffee, adult
    education coordinator for the International Institute of Boston

    *  MaryAnn Florez, assistant director for the National Center     
    for ESL Literacy Education in Washington, D.C.


    *  Tracy Carman, a spokesman for the Literacy Volunteers of
    America, which is based in Syracuse, N.Y.


Consider what we spend, nationally on K-12 compared with adult education:

    "Nationally, the average spent by federal programs on adult
    education was $374 per student, compared with the average spent
    on a primary and secondary student at $6,835, according to the
    National Center for Literacy Education"


In late August the NLA list will resume.  Let's hear from you then about
your state, your community.  Do you have waiting lists for English language
classes for adults?  What actions are you taking?  Have the recent state
budget cuts in your state made this problem worse?

David J. Rosen
NLA List Moderator 


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