[NLA] Discussion: What to do about growing waiting lists?

[David J. Rosen]

NLA Colleagues,

New York City, New York State, and New Jersey have long waiting lists 
for adult basic education. Portland, Oregon has waiting lists. 
(http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/0827/p18s02-lecl.html) Pennsylvania has 
growing waiting lists and a shrinking number of potential tutors (_The 
Literacy Connection_, Tutors of Literacy in the Commonwealth, Fall 
2002.)  Massachusetts' official waiting list for Department of 
Education-funded adult basic education programs has jumped this year 
from 14,000 to 19,000 people and it is likely to continue to grow. Are 
other states and cities experiencing growing waiting lists, too?

The media are aware of the problem and plan to give adult basic 
education some attention in New York, Massachusetts, and perhaps 
elsewhere. Have you received calls from the media in our area?

Media attention may be good news for the field as a whole, but in places 
which already have great demand for services media attention in the past 
has caused huge waiting list growth as more adults learned that services 
might be available to help them.

What should we do about this problem? Instead of compromising quality to 
squeeze more students into an overcrowded under-resourced classroom, we 
can lay the groundwork for increasing adult education resources to meet 
the need. When the media take up the cause for adult education and when 
waiting lists are growing is the time to organize a postcard campaign, 
to bring legislators' attention to the need for more services.

Here's how the postcard strategy works:  when adults come to a program 
to sign up for classes and are told there is a waiting list, they are 
given the opportunity to write a postcard to their legislators to 
express their disappointment. Postcards and postage are available. 
There is a book available of legislative districts for the addresses in 
your town so that the applicants can be sure who their state senator and 
representative are. Applicants, often with the help of an intake person, 
teacher, counselor or tutor, complete the postcard. They add in the name 
of the program and the length of the wait they face.  They sign the 
postcard, write in their home address, and ask for a reply.

Legislators are often surprised to learn that their constituents cannot 
get basic education services.  In Massachusetts we have found that a few 
postcards, arriving in legislators' offices each week, help keep the 
issue a priority, minimize cuts in the hard times and, when 
possible, result in increased funding.

For an example of a postcard we have used in Massachusetts, go to:

http://www.alri.org/advocacydocs.html#postcard

Perhaps others who have participated in adult literacy postcard 
campaigns, in Massachusetts or in other states, would like to comment on 
this strategy.  If so, let's hear from you.

David J. Rosen
DJRosen at theworld.com

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