[NLA] Urgent Action: Help Preserve NIFL's Adult Ed Focus!

Wed Sep 25 18:36:52 EDT 2002

I've faxed Barbara Lee (D) of California's 9th district and will follow up 
with a phone call on Monday.  I've also forwarded letter-writing information 
to the Bay Area Literacy coalition of library-based literacy programs.  So, 
hopefully, we'll hear from more Californians!

Amy Prevedel
Berkeley Public Library

>From: "David J. Rosen" <DJRosen at theworld.com>
>Reply-To: nla at lists.literacytent.org
>To: nla at lists.literacytent.org
>Subject: [NLA] Urgent Action: Help Preserve NIFL's Adult Ed Focus!
>Date: Tue, 24 Sep 2002 21:32:04 -0400
>
>NLA Colleagues,
>
>Here's a copy of the instructions for faxing your Congressperson.
>
>David J. Rosen
>NLA List Moderator
>
>
>-------- 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
>
>
>
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>
>
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Amy Prevedel
Library Literacy Program Coordinator

Berkeley Public Library
1125 University Avenue
Berkeley, California  94702

510/981-6299

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