[NLA] Discussion: WIA Reauthorization and OMB Four commonMeasures

[Elsa Auerbach]

To say nothing of racism, recession, gendered hiring, health issues.  Elsa Auerbach
> ----------
> From: 	Barbara Garner
> Reply To: 	nla at lists.literacytent.org
> Sent: 	Thursday, December 12, 2002 10:30 AM
> To: 	nla at lists.literacytent.org; DJRosen at theworld.com
> Subject: 	Re: [NLA] Discussion: WIA Reauthorization and OMB Four commonMeasures
> 
> I totally agree. And beyond my concern that these measures narrow the
> limits of what AEL stands for, I have another issue with the four common
> measures. Education is not a guarantee of employment: transportation,
> quality child care, introduction to an appropriate labor source, etc.,
> are limiting factors over which programs have no leverage.
> Barb Garner
> 
> Barbara Garner
> Senior Program Officer         email bgarner at worlded.org      
> World Education                   phone (617) 482-9485 
> 44 Farnsworth Street             fax  (617) 482-0617   
> Boston, MA  02210
> 
> 
> >>> DJRosen at theworld.com 12/12/02 07:38AM >>>
> NLA Colleagues,
> 
> At the final plenary of the National Workforce Alliance Conference in 
> Washington, D.C. yesterday, a representative of the U.S. Department of
> 
> Labor (DOL) outlined some of the factors which we might expect to 
> influence WIA authorization in 2003.  Among them she mentioned the 
> recommended change from the current 17 to four common measures 
> recommended by the White House Office of Management and Budget. She
> said 
> the four proposed performance measures for programs serving adults are:
> 
> employment entry rate, job retention rate, earnings increases, and an 
> efficiency measure involving the appropriation level per participant, 
> something like a return on investment assessment figure.
> 
> She also mentioned that DOL is concerned about the increasing number of
> 
> immigrants with employment-related goals who are limited English 
> proficient, that the DOL would like to do something about that.  In the
> 
> question and answer period I pointed out that the four common measures
> 
> would discourage programs from providing English language services, 
> especially under WIA Title II, since clients seeking beginning English
> 
> language and adult literacy services often will not be able to attain 
> these program outcomes within a funding year. She said they would have
> 
> to look at that. (In a downturned economy, with an unemployment rate of
> 
> 6%, all employment-related outcomes are challenging to attain. 
> Programs 
> would have to be selective about who they admitted, and would serve
> only 
> those who could produce these outcomes in a year, in a word would
> "cream.")
> 
> We must be concerned about the OMB four common measures recommendation.
> 
>   Apparently it is being taken seriously.  For example, if the 
> Administration put this forward to Congress in its WIA Authorization 
> plan this winter, and if, as we saw with the Administration TANF 
> reauthorization plan last year, debate in Congress were limited, and if
> 
> the administration proposal passed largely as proposed, the four common
> 
> measures could be part of the law. This would compromise one of the
> most 
> important principles advocated by our field, that public adult
> education 
> funding must be broad, to serve a variety of legitimate student and 
> community goals and needs, not only employment.  WIA Title II, as many
> 
> on the NLA list know, is funding which was before in the National 
> Literacy Act, now called Adult Education and Family Literacy.  If the 
> four common measures recommendation holds, that would be the end of 
> federal broad-purpose funding for adult education and literacy.
> 
> Through our NIFL advocacy campaign the past few months, we have 
> identified friends in Congress. That's good news because we are going
> to 
> need a lot of friends in Congress in 2003.  As I read the signs, we are
> 
> going to need to work very hard for adult literacy education this> 
> year.
> 
> David J. Rosen
> NLA List Moderator
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> 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
> 
> 
_______________________________________________
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