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Advocacy

ProLiteracy Submits Written Testimony to Senate Appropriations Committee

Outside Written Testimony
Submitted by David Harvey, CEO, ProLiteracy Worldwide
Senate Committee on Appropriations
Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies
FY 2011 Appropriations for the Department of Education
April 23rd, 2010

Chairman Harkin, Vice Chairman Cochran, and members of the Subcommittee, on behalf of the millions of adult learners working to improve their basic skills and pursue greater economic opportunity for themselves and their families, thank you for the opportunity to provide written testimony regarding the President's Fiscal Year (FY) 2011 budget request for adult education and family literacy, provided for under the Workforce Investment Act, Title II. We would be pleased to testify and participate in any future hearings regarding adult literacy and basic education.

At a time when millions of Americans are struggling to find work and billions of dollars are being invested in job creation and in retraining our workforce, it is essential to also invest in adult learning in order to maximize our return on these investments and put more American families on the road to self-sufficiency and economic security. We strongly urge you to provide at least $750 million for Adult Basic and Literacy Education in FY 2011 to better assist the one in seven adults nationally who struggle with illiteracy.

Background: ProLiteracy

ProLiteracy is the world's oldest and largest organization of adult literacy and basic education programs in the United States. ProLiteracy traces its roots to two premiere adult literacy organizations: Laubach Literacy International and Literacy Volunteers of America, Inc. In 2002, these two organizations merged to create ProLiteracy.

ProLiteracy now represents over 1,200 community-based organizations and adult basic education programs in the United States, and we partner with literacy organizations in 50 developing countries. In communities across the United States, these organizations use trained volunteers, teachers, and instructors to provide one-to-one tutoring, classroom instruction, and specialized classes in reading, writing, math, technology, English language skills, job training and workforce literacy skills, GED Test preparation, and citizenship. Our members are located in all 50 states and in the District of Columbia. Through education, training, and advocacy, ProLiteracy supports the frontline work of these organizations through regional conferences and other training events, credentialing, and the publication of materials and products used to teach adults basic literacy and English as a second language and to prepare adults for the U.S. citizenship exam and GED Tests.

The Urgent Need to Invest in Adult Education

• In 2003, the U.S. Department of Education conducted the National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL) in order to gauge the English reading and comprehension skills of individuals in the United States over the age of 16 on daily literacy tasks such as reading a newspaper article, following a printed television guide, and completing a bank deposit slip. The results indicated that 30 million adults—14 percent of this country's adult population—had below basic literacy skills; that is, their ability to read was so poor, they could not complete a job application without help or follow the directions on a medicine bottle. An additional 63 million adults read only slightly better.
• Due to funding constraints, the adult education system currently only has the capacity to serve approximately 2.5 million of these 93 million adults each year. Adult education has been nearly flat funded for a decade, seeing only a modest overall increase from 2001–2009.¹
• The high percentage of low-literate adults can be connected to almost every socioeconomic problem this country faces. According to the U.S. Department of Education, an estimated 60 percent of prison inmates are barely literate. Struggling readers are also more likely to be unemployed and require public assistance. Low literacy also has a significant impact on public health and health care costs. The 2003 U.S. Department of Education National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL) estimates that 36 percent of the adult U.S. population has Basic or Below Basic health literacy levels. Low health literacy is a major source of economic inefficiency in the U.S. healthcare system: it is estimated that the cost of low health literacy to the U.S. economy is between $106 billion to $238 billion annually. This represents between 7 percent and 17 percent of all personal healthcare expenditures.²

The Proposed Adult Basic and Literacy Education Budget

The proposed FY 2011 budget includes several significant features that we strongly support. First, the President requested $612.3 million for state grants for adult education through the Workforce Investment Act (WIA), Title II, an increase of $30 million compared to the 2009 appropriation. While ProLiteracy welcomes this overall increase to base funding, we agree with the National Coalition for Literacy's (of which we are a member) request for at least $750 million for Title II of WIA in FY 2011, for the following reasons:

• Although the President's proposal does increase base funding, it is actually a $15.9 million decrease from last year's total appropriation because of a one time adjustment to correct for a funding calculation error that occurred from 2003-2008. Many states will receive a lower appropriation than in FY 2010, at a time when many states are dramatically cutting funding at the state and local levels due to budget deficits.
• The President's proposal would not substantially increase the current number of students being served. We estimate that an increase to $750 million would serve an additional 500,000 students—still a very small percentage of the millions of adults in the U.S. in need of adult literacy services, but a substantial and measurable boost in the number of adults ready to succeed in postsecondary education or occupational training.
• We support the President's goal of having the highest proportion of college graduates in the world by the year 2020. However, even if every state's graduation rates reached the level of the highest performing states, we cannot reach the President's goal without a substantial increase in the number of out of school adults entering into postsecondary education. Adult education and literacy programs are an important component in the development of a broader pipeline of learners entering into postsecondary education.

Workforce Innovation

In addition to an increase in state funding, the administration's budget includes a proposal to establish a new Partnership for Workforce Innovation between the Department of Labor (DOL) and the Department of Education (DoED), providing a total of $321 million to support jointly administered competitive Adult and Youth Innovation grants to states and localities to test and replicate innovative workforce practices. A $30 million increase to the Office of Vocational and Adult Education's (OVAE) National Leadership funding represents OVAE's contribution to the Fund.

ProLiteracy applauds the administration's commitment to innovation. We urge the Committee to ensure that innovation funding will benefit adults at all skill levels, particularly the millions who are estimated to possess less than basic literacy skills. In order for these adults benefit from this Fund, we recommend the following:

• Both the Adult and Youth Workforce Innovation Funds should encourage integration between Title I and II programs.

The Workforce Innovation Fund is a unique opportunity for DOL and DoED to develop coordinated approaches to build upon what works at a scale that can make a tangible difference to jobseekers. We suggest that the DOL and DoED funds be combined to expand successful, integrated approaches to serving the lowest level learners and ensure eligible entities under this funding stream have a demonstrated capacity of serving adult learners.

Adult education providers should also be eligible to apply for the funding contributed by DOL to both the Workforce Innovation Fund and the Youth Innovation Fund. This would help address a common criticism that Workforce Investment Act Title I and II programs are too disconnected from each other and fail to provide well-integrated workforce development and adult education services. Grants to local adult literacy providers, working in partnership, for example, with local workforce investment boards, could develop more effective replicable practices to improve the lowest level learners' placement and retention in employment.

We also recommend that any definition of underserved populations in the DOL Workforce Innovation Fund include adult learners, particular those at the lowest levels of literacy, and that eligible entities under this funding stream should include those with a demonstrated capacity of serving adult learners via services that are linked to income, work, and academic supports and to better connect these systems with employers and postsecondary education.

Also, because a significant number of young adults ages 16-24 receive education services from adult education programs, we recommend that the DOL's Youth Innovation Fund explicitly define adult and family literacy services as an allowable education activity under this funding stream.

• Eligibility for Workforce Innovation Fund grants should include community-based organizations and other entities with demonstrated capacity to assist adults at the lowest literacy levels and their families, and include wraparound services.
• The need for innovation should not come at the expense of the existing WIA Title II formula funds.

As noted above, while the President is calling for an overall increase to base funding, some states will receive a substantially smaller appropriation—at a time when many states are dramatically cutting funding at the state and local level due to budget deficits. ProLiteracy urges the Subcommittee to ensure that the Workforce Innovation Fund is funded on top of annual WIA formula funds, rather than as a carve out of existing formula funds.

Thank you for the opportunity to present this testimony. We would be happy to respond to any questions that you may have.

¹ U.S. Department of Education Budget History
² Low health literacy: implications for national health policy