[NLA] follow-up to a proposal to "save" the NIFL

[Alice Cain]

Two quick comments in response to Tom Sticht and Steve Bender's recent 
postings:

1)  Unfortunately, it is highly unlikely that the Senate will hold any 
hearings on the NIFL nominees.  If the HELP Committee chooses to approve 
them, they will probably do it by voice vote, (i.e. consensus of the 
Senators who are present) at the end of a mark-up/committee meeting on a 
piece of unrelated legislation.  If Kennedy wants to send their names to the 
Floor for approval (which will be a rubber stamp once the HELP Committee 
approves them) the other Senators are very likely to defer to his judgment 
as chair.  This is what happened with the original NIFL nominees in 1992.  
However, if any other Senator on the HELP committee (or potentially any 
other Senator period) is concerned about the nominees and raises his/her 
reservations with Kennedy, he will take them seriously and this could cause 
a significant delay in approving them.

2)  Tom -- With all due respect, I must take issue with your statement that 
Andy and I had no experience in adult literacy before coming to NIFL.  While 
Andy's academic credentials were related to children, he had extensive 
*adult* literacy policy experience -- and could not have gotten his NIFL job 
at that time without it.  It was my experience with *adult* literacy over 
several years before I came to NIFL that caused me to want to work there in 
the first place!  In addition to working on adult literacy policy in the 
Senate, I was a Laubach tutor, a Laubach trainer, and a Board member of a 
local adult literacy program.

If NIFL's new Board and Director have built their careers on children's 
literacy, I think it is somewhat naive and far too optimistic to hope that 
when the President of the United States recognizes their leadership and 
achievement in *children's* literacy by making this prestigious appointment 
that we can convince them to focus on adults instead.  If the current course 
continues, we'll have to try, but I won't be holding my breath on this one.  
We have a much greater chance of success by intervening NOW.  I hope we 
won't be kicking ourselves a year from now when NIFL as we know it is gone, 
and saying we wish we had done something back when we still had a chance.  
The clock is ticking and if we don't act now, it is not likely that we will 
have the option later.  (If NIFL gets too cozy with the Bush Adminsitration 
and is associated closely with it, which I fear is already happening, as 
soon as this Administration is gone, the NIFL will likely be gone as well.)  
Whether we like it or not, circumstances are forcing the issue and the field 
faces a choice.  Not choosing is a choice in and of itself.  Decide to act 
or decide not to act but make no mistake that the stakes right now are high. 
  Once NIFL is gone, there is no way Congress is going to re-create it in 
the foreseeable future.  Perhaps some other organizations or agencies will 
pick up pieces of its work, or perhaps they will be gone too.

Alice Johnson



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