[NLA] Discussion: AELS and Higher Ed

[LVAready@aol.com]

NLA Colleagues:

I have directed an adult literacy program in southwestern Montana for 12 
years. We became a recognized (read--partially funded) part of the AELS about 
four years ago. Note that we always served a broad range of students from 
those who could not read at all to those who were seeking their high school 
equivalency diploma. In Montana, statute restricts the distribution of state 
matching dollars to school districts, community colleges, and tribal 
colleges. Federal Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA) dollars go 
to a much broader list of eligible providers, solely because the federal law 
specifies the list of eligible providers.

The primary reason that oversight for the AELS should not be through Higher 
Ed is that these funds are to help adults gain K-12 skills. In the higher ed 
system, if a student needs catch-up work in basic skills, the student is 
charged for credits that do not count toward graduation, AND do not count for 
meeting the requirement of full-time attendance for financial assistance.  As 
a result, students in higher ed that do not have all of the necessary 
foundation skills are heavily penalized by paying high rates for credits that 
will do them no good---what they really need is the basic skills so that they 
can move into regular "for-credit" classes that count. 

In rural states, there are areas that are more than 100 miles from any kind 
of community college. It is not in the best interest of students who lack 
funds and reliable transportation to be limited to such institutions when 
they seek to gain basic literacy skills. To move funds/leadership to higher 
ed would be a disaster in our rural state.

As a manager of a CBO, I am also not a big fan of placing programs in local 
school districts. An adult literacy student at a national conference told me, 
"My IQ drops 30 points when I walk through the door of a school." He went on 
to explain that the trauma he experienced as a child in school made it very 
difficult to function in the school environment, even as an adult.  (Some of 
our classes are in school buildings, some are not.) I believe that many 
people in the field have spent a decade or more educating their State 
Department of Education about the needs of low-literate adults and the 
importance of basic skills programs. Colleges and vo-techs even admit 
students who have little or no chance of success if they have the money to 
pay for classes. Higher Ed may be "public education," but most of the 
institutions are run as businesses that need to break even or make money. 



Dixie Stark
LVA Bitterroot
(406) 363-2900





In a message dated 12/4/02 5:41:24 AM Mountain Standard Time, 
DJRosen at theworld.com writes:

<< NLA Colleagues,
 
 Debbie Yoho wrote:
 
  >So I put it to the list:  What do y'all think?  Would those of us who 
  >are not already working alongside higher ed be better off if the AELS 
  > >money flowed through them, instead of K-12?
 
 I have worked in adult education and literacy for a community college 
 and/or a university since 1986,  but I would answer Debbie's question 
 with an emphatic "no."  Here are my reasons:
  >>
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