[NLA] Letter to Senator Kennedy

[Thomas Sticht]

On January 31, 2002 I sent the following letter and enclosure to Senator
Edward Kennedy.
Tom Sticht

Senator Edward Kennedy
Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee
315 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510

Hon. Edward Kennedy:

I was distressed to learn that President Bush has nominated a slate of
potential Board of Directors for the National Institute for Literacy
(NIFL) without including professionals in  adult literacy education nor
adult learners. The NIFL was legislated in 1991 with the express purpose
of contributing to adult literacy education as a means of (1) improving
parents’ literacy abilities so that they in turn could  increase their
children’s pre-school and in-school literacy development, (2)
strengthening the literacy skills and educational credentials of
America’s workforce, and (3) increasing the abilities of adults to
contribute more effectively to their communities through civic and other
activities. 

To meet this legislative requirement, it is imperative that the NIFL
Board include experienced adult educators and at least one member who
has acquired literacy as an adult. At a time when large amounts of
federal resources and attention are being given to the literacy
development of children in pre-schools and the K-12 system, it is easy
to forget or neglect adult literacy needs. For this reason it is
important for the NIFL Board to include adult educators and learners to
insure proper attention to the literacy and learning needs of adults,
their family members, their employers, and their community members. 

Please use the influence of the HELP to persuade President Bush to
reconsider the slate of NIFL Board nominees and to include adult
educators and learners as members of the Board.

Thank you,
Thomas G. Sticht

Enclosure


NOTE: The enclosure was the following message  sent in red, white and
blue colors on 8 1/2  by 11 inch high gloss photo stock paper with a
logo showing the words The Adult Education and Literacy System of the
United States in a circle with a stylized picture of the American flag
in the center of the circle with the initials A.E.L.S./U.S.A. underneath
the flag. There is also a graph showing enrollments and funding for the
last thirty years for the AELS. Anyone who wants a copy of the message
in full color suitable for posting on a bulletin board can get one by
sending me an email with a snail mail address. 


The Adult Education and Literacy System of the United States of America

Our Nation’s Third Branch of  Public Education

The Adult Education & Literacy System (AELS) of the United States was
formed in 1966 when the Adult Education Act (AEA) was passed by the U.
S. Congress and signed into law by President Lyndon Baines Johnson.  The
AEA brought adult educators at the local, state, and federal levels
together to work under an agreed to set of common rules and regulations
that began  the process of systematizing adult education in the United
States. Since then the AEA has undergone numerous amendments and name
changes.  It was renamed the National Literacy Act in 1991, and in 1998
it was incorporated into the Workforce Investment Act as Title 2, The
Adult  Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA).  

Today, over 3000 organizations operate under the rules and regulations
of the AEFLA. Together they join the K-12 and Higher Education branches
to form the nation’s third major publicly funded branch of education.
These thousands of educational institutions make-up the Adult Education
and Literacy System (AELS) of the United States and they  provide
learning opportunities for adults throughout their lives. 

>From 1966 through 1999, the number of adults enrolled in the diverse
programs funded wholly or in part through the federal government’s
Division of Adult Education and Literacy increased at an average rate of
almost 100,000 per year, growing from around 377,000 in 1966 to over 3.6
million in 1999.

In the last third of the 20th century, millions of adults chose to
improve their minds and lives by learning in the Adult Education  and
Literacy System of the United States.


**********Serving America’s Adult Learners************
The Adult Education and Literacy System of the United States
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