[NLA] (NLA) Proposal to "save" the NIFL

[Archie Willard]

The NIFL has always been special to me. The ABE program where I went for
reading help will always be my reading home, but the NIFL took me to a
higher level. I had the opportunity to be a literacy fellow with the
NIFL in 1996. I got to know the staff at NIFL and worked with them. They
helped me to grow in the literacy field. I will hold onto that
experience for the rest of my life.  There are other adult learners,
people from the adult literacy field, who also have had good experiences
with the NIFL. The whole adult literacy field needs a place like NIFL
for leadership.

I think it’s good that President Bush does not want to leave one child
behind. As I look back at my child hood, I was one of those children who
was left behind so I know what it’s like. I know there are many others
like myself who have gone through an imperfect education system. No
matter how hard we try we can not make the education system perfect.
There will always be a need for good adult literacy programs. Today
there are a hundreds of adults who need the leadership that the NIFL is
capable of. If we have a population with low literacy skills it is
costly to our country. Adult literacy money is well spent money.  For
every tax dollar spent on adult literacy, two or three dollars come back
to our economy.  As someone who has been helped, I have gone into
hundreds of class rooms and told my life story to children. Adult
learners who have become leaders can help children’s literacy and be
their advocate.

Back in the 80’s and early 90’s you could say there was a silent adult
literacy movement in our country. We can thank Former First Lady Barbara
Bush and Senator Paul Simon for bringing attention to adult literacy.
There is a NIFL because of the hard work of them and of many others.

The thought of one agency giving money back to another sounds strange,
but many things have happened to support the field wanting to do this.
If giving money back is what we need to do then we should do it.

To the new NIFL advisory board I hope each of you will take the time to
get to know adult learners personally and see us as real people, not
just facts and figures. Doing this can make all the difference in how
you make your decisions for the NIFL advisory board.

Archie Willard
Adult Learner

--
Archie Willard
millard at goldfieldaccess.net
URL - http://www.readiowa.org/archiew.html



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