[NLA] Discussion: Building Policy Vision

[Jon Randall]

Re: policy vision ...  Please look at the Action Agenda for
Literacy. It has influenced the strategic planning of a
number of local, state, and national organizations,
including but not limited to TESOL and the National
Coalition for Literacy, Everyone that uses it prioritizes
its action items differently, but the idea here is that we
can all work from the same playbook. Let's build on the more
than two years worth of work and tens of thousands of
dollars that this field has already spent soliciting input
from the field to put this together.

Some would like to see its recommendations grounded in a set
of socio-political foundational principles. To those folks,
I say go for it if you have the energy and the time. I wish
I did. I think it's a worthy exercise. Those of you who do,
please DON'T do it <instead of> writing letters and making
phone calls to preserve our field. This is going to be a
very tough year and we will loose more ground that we've
ever lost before unless there is a massive commitment to
advocacy by folks like yourselves and everyone else you can
mobilize.

I am concerned that the many discussions on the NLA listserv
about the desire a common set of foundational principles has
had (for some ) the unintentional (I hope) effect of
throwing a wet blanket on the Action Agenda. It may not be
perfect, but we'd all better get on <some> same page here
pretty quickly - even if it is a work in progress - because
our long-term future depends on us all rowing in a common
direction.

The Action Agenda for Literacy is the genesis of the Omnibus
Literacy Legislation Concept Paper. The final version of
this paper will be available on the NCL web site by week's
end. It is the culmination of two years worth of work by the
NCL to put into draft legislation all of the recommendations
made in the Action Agenda that require new legislation or
changes in current law. It recommends changes in NINE public
laws. Look for it on the NCL web site later this week.

Best,
Jon


Jon Randall
Public Policy Committee Chair
National Coalition for Literacy
www.natcoalitionliteracy.org

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