[NLA] a proposal to "save" the NIFL

[Alice Cain]

NLA Colleagues,

It appears that more of my frustration at NIFL's situation came through in 
my last posting than I intended (which I made the mistake of writing when I 
was pressed for time) so for that I apologize.

I continue to think Christy asked a very good question:  *why* do some of us 
feel that the Institute has lost it's focus on adult literacy?  What is the 
problem here that needs solving?

In trying to answer Christy's questions, I came up with the following 
projects/initiatives that NIFL has supported in the past that seemed to make 
a difference for adult literacy.  As far as I know, these activities are not 
currently happening at NIFL.  My hope is that they are either:  a)  
continuing quietly and just have not been publicized, b) have been replaced 
by other, better activities to help adults, or c) can be revived.  My 
concern is that we are facing d) they have been replaced by children's 
literacy activities.

Some of the adult literacy activities that I thought made a difference were:

- funding for VALUE
- literacy leader fellowships program
- annual policy retreat on adult literacy with Congressional staff
- outreach to other federal agencies about adult literacy, including 
Commerce, Small Business Administration, the White House (re: adult literacy 
radio address), etc.
- outreach to businesses about adult literacy (GTE, Verizon, AOL-Time 
Warner)
- outreach to foundations (Lila-Wallace, Pew, and others) about adult 
literacy
- regular state policy updates about adult literacy issues
- regular federal policy updates about adult literacy issues
- NIFL testimony before Congress about adult literacy
- NIFL finding and bringing in adult learners to testify at Congressional 
hearings related to adult literacy
- arranging for adult literacy students to meet with and tell their stories 
to the President and Vice President
- major adult literacy public awareness campaign

I hope that these or similar adult-focused activites are continuing, and it 
may well be the case that they are.  But if they are not, I think it is a 
serious problem.  And I think Andy's proposal could solve the problem 
because it would free up NIFL staff time and more of NIFL's financial 
resources for these types of activities, as well as potentially solving the 
Board problem too.

Alice Johnson






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