[NLA] Re-posted, Urgent Action: Help Preserve NIFL's Adult Ed Focus!

Mon Sep 23 13:33:48 EDT 2002

I have sent a modified version of the sample letter to Congressman (VT)
Bernie Sanders on behalf of adult education and literacy.

Jan Martin Bopp
AEL Educator
----- Original Message -----
From: "David J. Rosen" <DJRosen at theworld.com>
To: <nla at lists.literacytent.org>
Sent: Saturday, September 21, 2002 7:30 AM
Subject: [NLA] Re-posted, Urgent Action: Help Preserve NIFL's Adult Ed
Focus!

>
>
> -------- Original Message --------
> Subject: [NLA] Urgent Action: Help Preserve NIFL's Adult Ed Focus!
> Date: Tue, 17 Sep 2002 12:01:05 -0400
> From: "Jon Randall" <jrandall at fedstrategics.com>
> Reply-To: nla at lists.literacytent.org
> To: "NLA \(E-mail\)" <nla at lists.literacytent.org>
>
> Urgent Action: Help Preserve NIFL's Adult Ed Focus!
>
> SUMMARY ... We must ensure that the permanent director of the National
> Institute for Literacy (NIFL) knows the adult literacy field well. Our
> friends in the House are helping us by making such a recommendation to the
> Secretaries of Labor, HHS, and Education, who will decide on the director.
> We need your help in getting as many Representatives as possible to cosign
> this recommendation letter. We must do this NOW!
>
> ACTION NEEDED
>
> 1. Fax a letter to your Congressperson asking them to cosign this House
> recommendation letter.
> 2. Mail copies of your letters to the Secretaries of Labor, HHS, and
> Education
> 3. Call your Congressperson 3-4 days after you send your fax. Ask if they
> have co-signed the recommendation letter.
> 4. Urge others in your program to do steps 1-3.
>
> TIMING
>
> Since the Secretaries may act before the end of September we must gather
as
> many co-signers as possible NOW for this House letter. Your Congressperson
> must have agreed to sign the letter by Sept. 30th. That means you must fax
> your letters now and follow up by phone within the next two weeks.
>
> We will ask for you help with a similar letter in the Senate within the
next
> week or so. However, at this time we don't have a Senate Republican lead
> cosponsor for the letter. We can't afford to wait any longer -- we've held
> up the House letter mobilization for 10 days already.
>
> In advance, thanks for your quick action on this issue! The future
direction
> of the NIFL - and its support for our field or lack thereof - hangs in the
> balance.
>
> BACKGROUND
> As you are probably aware, the Administration has recommended to the
Senate
> a new Advisory Board to the NIFL. The recommended appointees have
impressive
> educational credentials but very limited experience with adult education,
> giving rise to a concern that the NIFL may turn away from its statutory
role
> to serve as a national resource for adult education and literacy programs.
>
> If the Senate approves the slate of nominees for the NIFL Advisory Board
> shortly after Labor Day as expected, the new board could meet right away
and
> recommend someone who also has very little knowledge of our field. This
> could be done in a matter of weeks after Labor Day if the Secretaries of
> Labor, HHS and Education quickly approved the Board's recommendation.
>
> Admittedly, this is a worst case scenario based on conjecture. However,
only
> if we start now will we have the time needed to prevent something like
this
> from happening.
>
> SAMPLE LETTER
>
> Please use this letter as a guide in writing your own letters. Ideally,
your
> letter should be a little different than this one, so it doesn't look like
> you simply signed a form letter.
>
> Here's the sample letter ...
>
> September 17, 2002
>
> The Honorable [full name of your Congressperson]
> U.S. House of Representatives
> Washington, DC  20515
>
> Dear Mr. or Ms. [your Congressperson's last name] :
>
> Please help ensure that the unique mandate of the National Institute for
> Literacy is preserved as a new director is selected.
>
> As you may know the President has nominated an entirely new slate of
> Advisory Board members. These new board members have impressive
> qualifications in early childhood education and post-secondary education.
> However, as a group their expertise in the area of adult education and
> literacy is very limited.
>
> One of the first duties of the new Advisory Board will be to forward
> recommendations for a new director to the Secretaries of Education, Labor
> and HHS. As members of the Interagency Group responsible for the
> administration of the Institute, the Secretaries will be asked to approve
> the selection of the agency's director.
>
> I feel it is critical that the new permanent director of the Institute
have
> adult education and literacy expertise in order to direct the only agency
> charged with serving as national resource for adult education and literacy
> programs like mine.
>
> Therefore I urge you to co-sign a "Dear Colleague letter" to Secretaries
> Paige, Thompson, and Chao. The letter is being circulated by the office of
> Representatives Thomas Sawyer (Amy Boyle, LA) and James Walsh (Martha
> Carmen, LA).
>
> Thank you for helping us.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> [Your name]
> [The address from which you are registered to vote] (to show you are a
> constituent of his/her district)
>
> CC: The Honorable Elaine Chao, Secretary, U.S. Department of Labor
> The Honorable Roderick Paige, Secretary, U.S. Department of Education
> The Honorable Tommy G. Thompson, Secretary, U.S. Department of Health and
> Human Services
>
> FAX NUMBERS
>
> To obtain the fax number for your Congressperson, please check the
following
> web site: http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/
>
> If a fax number is not listed, you will need to call their office and
> indicate that you are a constituent who wants to fax a short letter.
>
> SEND COPIES OF YOUR LETTER
>
> Please send a copy of your letter to each of the following people. By
> receiving a copy of your letter, these officials will see just how many
> people care about this issue.
>
> The Honorable Elaine Chao, Secretary, U.S. Department of Labor
> Attn: Emily Stover DeRocco, Assistant Secretary, Employment and Training
> Administration
> 200 Constitution Avenue NW, Room S-2307
> Washington, D.C. 20210
>
> The Honorable Roderick Paige, Secretary, U.S. Department of Education
> Attn: Beth Ann Bryan, Senior Advisor to the Secretary
> 400 Maryland Avenue, S.W., Room 7W205
> Washington, D.C. 20202
>
> The Honorable Tommy G. Thompson, Secretary, U.S. Department of Health and
> Human Services
> Attn: Wade F. Horn, Assistant Secretary For Children & Families
> 370 L'Enfant Promenade, S.W., Suite 600
> Washington, DC 20447
>
>
> RECOMMENDATION IN HOUSE LETTER
>
> Here's what the National Coalition for Literacy asked our friends in the
> House and Senate to recommend:
>
> We urge consideration of the following factors as the new director of the
> Institute is selected:
> ? The National Institute for Literacy is a unique national resource
> established in law to support the system of adult literacy and language
> learning and
> ? The National Institute for Literacy is a primary information source to
> Congress about literacy and language need, current services, and impact
and
> ? The National Institute for Literacy plays a crucial role in national
> efforts to promote research, to identify and disseminate effective
practices
> and to coordinate policy and
> ? The National Institute for Literacy has a unique mandate to foster, and
> encourage collaboration among, literacy-related activities that contribute
> to the missions of the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services,
and
> Education and its offices of pre-K-12, post-secondary, adult, and
vocational
> education
>
> Consequently, it would be advantageous for the National Institute for
> Literacy's Executive Director to be:
> * Conversant in adult education issues, research, and the diverse array of
> providers that comprise the delivery system
> * Passionate about building an adult learning system that integrates
> services
> * Knowledgeable regarding the variety of models and collaborative
> arrangements, and articulate in describing how adult literacy/language
> education enhances pre-K-12, post-secondary, and vocational education; job
> training; health care; welfare reform; economic development; and
post-prison
> success
>
>
> #   #   #
>
>
> Jon Randall
> Public Policy Committee Chair
> National Coalition for Literacy
> www.natcoalitionliteracy.org
>
> NCL policy efforts are supported in part by funding from ProLiteracy
> Worldwide
>
> FedStrategics, LLC
> strategic advocacy & public affairs consulting
> to charitable organizations
> www.FedStrategics.com
>
> 8413 Park Crest Drive, Silver Spring, MD 20910
> Tel: (301) 588-5304   Fax: (301) 588-5353
> jrandall at FedStrategics.com
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> NLA mailing list: NLA at lists.literacytent.org
> http://lists.literacytent.org/mailman/listinfo/nla
> LiteracyTent: web hosting, news, community and goodies for literacy
> http://literacytent.org
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> NLA mailing list: NLA at lists.literacytent.org
> http://lists.literacytent.org/mailman/listinfo/nla
> LiteracyTent: web hosting, news, community and goodies for literacy
> http://literacytent.org

_______________________________________________
NLA mailing list: NLA at lists.literacytent.org
http://lists.literacytent.org/mailman/listinfo/nla
LiteracyTent: web hosting, news, community and goodies for literacy
http://literacytent.org