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Advocacy

President's Proposed Budget Includes Increase in State Grants to Local Programs

The world's largest organization of adult literacy and basic education programs today praised President Obama's proposed FY2011 budget as "a down payment on improving our ability to serve adults at the lowest literacy levels."

David C. Harvey, president and CEO of ProLiteracy, applauded a number of items in the Administration's proposed spending plan, including a significant increase in the state grants to local adult literacy and basic education programs; its support of a reform of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA), the largest source of federal funding for adult literacy; and creation of an innovation fund to support promising approaches to job training.

"This spending plan and the Administration's commitment to reforming the Workforce Investment Act are great news for the millions of adults in this country who struggle with the most basic daily reading, writing, and math tasks, and for the local literacy programs that serve them," Harvey said. "It means that more people can be served and more of them will get the job skills training they need to get back to work."

The proposed budget includes $612 million for state grants to local literacy programs, an increase of $30 million over the 2009 appropriation. (The FY 2010 appropriation of $628.2 million included a one-time increase to compensate states for errors in calculating formula grant awards between fiscal years 2003 and 2008). The $41 million appropriation for National Leadership Activities includes $30 million to fund, along with the Department of Labor, a Workforce Innovation Partnership to support and test promising practices for workforce training and to encourage states and localities to work across programs to improve service delivery.

"The adult literacy field has been calling for a better alignment between the workforce training programs funded under Title I of the Workforce Investment Act and the adult basic education and literacy programs supported by WIA Title II. It's extremely encouraging that this spending plan offers funding to help make that happen," said Jeff Carter, ProLiteracy director of policy and government affairs.

Harvey and Carter said they are particularly pleased that the Department of Labor (DOL) budget includes support for efforts to overhaul DOL performance measures that, according to the DOL budget summary, "dissuades States and localities from serving the populations that most need their assistance, like low-skilled adults..."

"To see that the proposed spending plan includes funding to overhaul the current accountability system is directly in line with what ProLiteracy has been working toward for some time now—an accountability system that accommodates the special needs of adults at the lowest literacy levels, who need more specialized and intensive services often available only at community-based literacy programs. This budget language is music to our ears," Harvey said. He added that ProLiteracy will continue to push for a similar adjustment to Education Department accountability measures.

Harvey and Carter both said that while the proposed budget has much to support, ProLiteracy will work to ensure that the state grant amount is enough to ensure that states do not lose appropriations.

The President's budget does not include funding for Even Start, the program that integrates adult literacy and early childhood literacy instruction. President Obama also eliminated Even Start funding in his FY 2010 budget, but Congress reinstated it at the $66.4 million level included in the prior year.

"I'm very disappointed that the Administration again is eliminating Even Start. Research indicates it's a very effective program," said Peter Waite, ProLiteracy vice president and current head of the National Coalition for Literacy.