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--></style><title>Re: [NLA] NIFL Policy Update - President's FY 2003
Bud</title></head><body>
<div>Christy,</div>
<div>Some of this is pretty discouraging stuff, but not unexpected.
I can't help hoping that there will be successful reconsideration of
some of the proposals -- for Even Start, Prison Literacy, and
Incarcerated Youth for instance. Thanks for your straightforward
diligence in getting out budget and policy info and keeping the field,
including me, informed. Best, Gail</div>
<div><br></div>
<div><br></div>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><font size="-1">President Bush Proposes
Level Funding for Literacy</font><br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><font size="-1">Yesterday, President Bush
released his FY 2003 budget proposal for adult education and family
literacy programs, which provides level funding for Adult Education
State Grants at $575 million. Additionally, the President
proposes to level fund National Leadership Activities and provide a
slight increase for the National Institute for Literacy.</font><br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><font size="-1">TABLE 1</font><br>
<font size="-1">Proposed Funding for Selected Federal Programs
(dollars in millions)</font><br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><font size="-1">State Grants for Adult
Education FY
03-$575 <span
></span> FY 02-$575</font><br>
<font size="-1">National Leadership Activities FY
03-$9.5 <span
></span> FY 02-$9.5</font><br>
<font size="-1">National Institute for Literacy FY
03-$6.62 <span
></span> FY 02-$6.56</font><br>
<font size="-1">Reading First State
Grants <span
></span> FY 03-$1,000 FY
02-$900</font><br>
<font size="-1">Early Reading First
Grants <span
></span> FY
03-$75 <span
></span> FY 02-$75</font><br>
<font size="-1">Even
Start <span
></span
> <span
></span
> <span
></span> FY
03-$200 <span
></span> FY 02-$250</font><br>
<font size="-1">Incarcerated Youth Offenders Grants
FY
03-$17 <span
></span> FY 02-$17</font><br>
<font size="-1">Prison Literacy
Grants <span
></span> FY
03-$5 <span
></span> FY 02-$5</font><br>
<font size="-1">21st Century Comm. Learning Centers
FY 03-$1,000 FY 02-$1,000</font><br>
<font size="-1">Community Technology
Centers
FY
03-$0 <span
></span> FY 02-$32.5</font><br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><font size="-1">In his State of the Union
address last week, the President indicated that his budget proposal
would include domestic programs cuts to pay for national security and
homeland defense. Through his FY 2003 budget proposal, the
President plans to terminate 35 Department of Education programs that
he feels have not proven effective. The President further
proposes funding decreases for other programs he views as marginally
effective. According to the President, this "budget seeks
to redirect funds from lower-performing programs to higher-performing
or more-effective programs." </font><br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><font size="-1">The President's FY 2003
budget proposal also launches a "multi-year effort to reform job
training programs across the federal government, target resources to
programs with documented effectiveness, and eliminate funding for
ineffective, duplicative, and overlapping programs." The
federal government has at least 48 training and employment programs,
including workplace basic skills programs, administered by as many as
ten different federal agencies - including the U.S. Departments of
Labor and Education. Through his FY 2003 budget proposal, the
President calls for reducing the number of job training programs from
48 to 28. </font><br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><font size="-1">Congress is expected to
debate the President's budget proposal throughout the spring.
During this time, the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S.
Senate will release their own budget proposals for FY 2003. All
three proposals will be considered until Congress reaches agreement on
a compromise budget. Congress will likely complete the FY 2003
budget process by fall 2002.</font><br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><font size="-1">The following list
describes the literacy programs included in Table 1. </font><br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite> <font size="-1"> The
President proposes to level fund State Grants for Adult Education at
$575 million. The state grant program, administered by the
Office of Vocational and Adult Education (OVAE) within the U.S.
Department of Education, helps fund most local Adult Basic Education
(ABE), Adult Secondary Education (ASE), and General Education
Development (GED) programs across the country through grants
distributed by state education agencies. Of the $575 million
proposed for state grants, $70 million is dedicated for English
Literacy and Civics Education programs.</font><br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite> <br>
<font size="-1"> Under the
President's proposal, funding for National Leadership Activities would
be level funded at $9.5 million. This funding supports research,
demonstration, and evaluation projects administered by
OVAE.</font></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><br></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite> <br>
<font size="-1"> The
National Institute for Literacy would receive a slight increase of
$57,000 under the President's proposed budget for FY 2003.
The Institute supports capacity building, communication, and policy
analysis activities in support of the goal that all Americans will be
literate and able to succeed at work, home, and in their
communities.</font><br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite> <br>
<font size="-1"> The
President proposes $1 billion for the new Reading First State Grants
program to help states and local educational agencies implement
comprehensive reading instruction grounded in scientifically-based
reading research for children in kindergarten through third grade.
This proposal increases funding from $900 million in FY 2002 to $1
billion in FY 2003.</font><br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite> <br>
<font size="-1"> Early
Reading First State Grants would be level funded at $75 million under
the President's budget. This initiative would complement Reading
First State Grants by supporting model programs to develop the
academic readiness of preschool children. Activities would
support evidence-based strategies to enhance pre-reading skills and
school readiness for children in preschool programs.</font><br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite> <font size="-1"> The
President's budget proposal includes $200 million for Even Start, a
decrease of $50 million from FY 2002. Even Start funds support
local projects that blend early childhood education, parenting
instruction, and adult education into a unified family literacy
program. While the President's budget describes the Even Start
program as "well-intentioned," he proposes to shift $50
million out of Even Start into programs he expects will have a more
direct impact on reading achievement.</font><br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite> <font size="-1"> The
Incarcerated Youth Offenders state grant program would not be funded
under the President's proposal. This program provides grants to
state correctional agencies to assist and encourage incarcerated youth
to acquire functional literacy, life, and job skills through
post-secondary education, employment counseling, and related
services.</font><br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite> <br>
<font size="-1"> The budget
proposal does not fund the Prison Literacy program, which provides
grants to state and local correctional agencies to establish and
operate programs that reduce recidivism through the improvement of
literacy and life skills.</font><br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite> <br>
<font size="-1"> The 21st
Century Community Learning Centers grant supports before and after
school projects that extend learning time and offer enriching
activities for youth. The President's budget level funds this
large program at $1 billion for FY 2003.</font><br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite> <br>
<font size="-1"> Community
Technology Center (CTC) competitive grants provide opportunities for
low-income children, youth, and adults to learn vital computer
literacy skills in their communities. The President's budget
eliminates funding for this program.</font><br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><font size="-1">More information on the
President's FY 2003 federal budget proposal is available at</font> <a
href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2003/index.html"><font
size="-1">http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2003/index.html</font
></a><font size="-1"> <</font><a
href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/"><font
size="-1">http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/</font></a><font
size="-1">>.</font><br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><br></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><font size="-1">Christy
Gullion</font><br>
<font size="-1">Associate Director for Federal Policy</font><br>
<font size="-1">National Institute for Literacy</font><br>
<font size="-1">1775 I Street, NW, Suite 730</font><br>
<font size="-1">Washington, DC 20006-2417</font><br>
<font size="-1">ph. (202) 233-2033</font><br>
<font size="-1">fax (202) 233-2050</font></blockquote>
<div><br></div>
<div><br></div>
<x-sigsep><pre>--
</pre></x-sigsep>
<div>Gail Spangenberg<br>
President<br>
Council for Advancement of Adult Literacy<br>
1221 Avenue of the Americas - 50th Floor<br>
New York, NY 10020<br>
212-512-2362, fax 212-512-2610</div>
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