Advocacy

ProLiteracy Praises Subcommittee Approval of State Grant Funds
$30M increase a "down payment" to local programs

July 21, 2010

David C. Harvey, president and CEO of ProLiteracy, today said he is pleased by the action of the House Subcommittee on Appropriations for Labor, Health and Human Services approving the $612 million allocation for state grants to adult education proposed by President Obama in his FY 2011 budget.

"This funding represents a $30 million increase in state grants to local literacy and basic education programs from the 2009 budget," Harvey said. "It's a modest but badly needed down payment on what we hope will be an even greater investment down the road."

ProLiteracy has learned that the subcommittee approved the President's state grant funding level as part of its review of appropriations bills on July 15. ProLiteracy also learned that the subcommittee approved a $30 million appropriation for a Workforce Innovation Fund. This fund will allow adult literacy and basic education programs funded under the Workforce Investment Act Title I and II to work together, and with other local and regional partners, to develop comprehensive proposals to scale promising practices.

"It is my hope that these innovation funds will make it possible for more community-based literacy programs to receive desperately needed resources. These programs traditionally work with adults at the lowest literacy levels, those most in need of instruction so they can find jobs that pay a living wage," Harvey said.

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. As a result, many states will receive a lower appropriation than in 2010—at a time when states and localities are dramatically cutting funding due to budget deficits.

Jeff Carter, ProLiteracy's director of policy and government affairs, said the financial picture at the state level for literacy programs is grim. Many states have called for reductions in adult education spending in their FY 2011 budgets. California's original budget proposal eliminated all adult education funding; Pennsylvania has cut its adult education spending almost in half over the past two years.

"We certainly understand the economic crisis facing states and the federal government and know that there is less to go around. But adults with poor reading skills, especially those at the very lowest literacy levels, need these literacy programs if they are to develop the reading, writing, math, computer, and English skills needed to compete for jobs in a tough economy," Carter said. "When we invest in the education of these adults, we should see a return on that investment in the form of reduced expenditures for government-funded support programs such as food stamps and unemployment benefits, which also are experiencing funding cuts."