[NLA] In support of a separate AELS Act for the USA

[Thomas Sticht]

For Linda Hoover and others who would like to encourage the removal of
the AELS from the WIA and instead have it as a stand alone act called
the Kennedy Adult Education and Literacy System (AELS) of the United
States of America Act. I sent the letter below to Jane Oates who works
for Senator Edward Kennedy in February. If anyone wants to, they can
simply send a copy of my letter with a cover letter saying something
like:

M. Jane Oates
Senior Education Advisor
Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee
428 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510

Dear M. Oates:

I am writing in support of the removal of Title 2: The Adult Education
and Family Literacy Act from the Workforce Investment Act and having it
replaced with a separate law called the Kennedy Adult Education and
Literacy System (AELS) of the United States of America Act.

The accompanying letter from Dr. Thomas Sticht, International Consultant
in Adult Education,  offers an historical and current basis for making
this recommendation. 

I would be pleased to discuss the proposal for the Kennedy Adult
Education and Literacy System of the United States of America Act at
your convenience. 

Sincerely,


NOTE: My letter and a letter you might formulate can be printed out and
faxed to M. Jane Oates at: (202) 228-0924. The office telephone for Jane
Oates is (202) 224-5501. 

Faxing is preferred to snail mail because the latter is subject to
delays due to the threat of anthrax terrorism. Still, snail mail can be
used. It is just much slower. I do not have an email address for Jane
Oates. 

Following is the letter I sent in February. I have not heard anything
from M. Oates as of yet. Maybe additional letters will stimulate some
attention to the ideas. 
Tom Sticht


February 22, 2002

M. Jane Oates
Senior Education Advisor
Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee
428 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510

Dear M.  Oates:

Just prior to his tragic death in 1993, President John F. Kennedy
established the Task Force on Manpower Conservation.  With Daniel
Patrick Moynihan as staff director of the Task Force, a report was
prepared for President Lyndon Johnson on January 1st, 1964. Later, in
May of that year, President Johnson launched the "Great Society"
initiative  that led to the passage of Public law 88-452, the Economic
Opportunity Act. The EOA included Title II: The Adult Basic Education
program. In 1966, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 was
amended to include the ABE program renamed the Adult Education Act of
1966. 

The Adult Education Act of 1966 became the basis for a unique education
system within the United States made-up of a partnership between the
federal and state governments. I call this system the Adult Education
and Literacy System of the United States of America (AELS/USA-AELS for
short). 

I believe that it is a poignant circumstance that we can trace the AELS
from the concerns for human conservation that President Kennedy had in
1963 to the concerns that his last surviving brother, Senator Edward
Kennedy, has today for conserving and further developing our nation’s
human resources through a strong commitment to life long learning for
adults. 

In recognition of this commitment to adult learning and development of
Senator Kennedy, and to name and recognize the unique education system
that has evolved since President Kennedy established the Task Force on
Manpower Conservation, I am suggesting that the Workforce Investment Act
of 1998 be amended to remove Title 2: The Adult Education and Family
Literacy Act from that law and that a new law be passed establishing the
Kennedy Adult Education and Literacy System of the United States of
America Act. 

In major developed nations, such as the United Kingdom, Australia, and
others there exist recognized, publicly funded, adult education systems
for life long learning, called further education systems in the two 
nations mentioned,  in addition to the publicly funded K-12 and higher
education systems. And indeed, in the U.S. there exists such a system
but it has not been formally recognized as such. 

I have enclosed a paper that presents a broad history of the AELS in the
United States, and a second which argues for moving the AELS from the
margins to the mainstream of publicly funded education in the United
States, just as it is in other developed nations.  

I would welcome the opportunity to discuss these papers and the idea of
the Kennedy Adult Education and Literacy System of the United States of
America Act at your convenience. 

Thank you,



Thomas Sticht

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