Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Call Congress about WIA Reauthorization

Good news!   This campaign was won! 
Info about win below all the other info.

CCAE issued an urgent call to action today:

Dear CCAE Members,
 
We are facing a huge problem with WIA reauthorization. There is the possibility that the final bill may include a provision consolidating Adult Education with the Title One Workforce Development programs. This would raise the possibility that adult education would become a workforce development program and that we could lose the ability to provide educational services to low level students.   
 
Please contact the staff of the members of the House Education and the Workforce Committee and the Senate Health Education, Labor and Pensions Committee asking that ADULT EDUCATION NOT BE CONSOLIDATED WITH TITLE I IN THE NEW WIA LEGISLATION.
 
If you have any questions regarding this information, please contact me.
 
Sincerely,
 
Larriann Torrez
CCAE State President
 
 
Here are the Congress Members on the committees who are from California:

House Education and Workforce Committee

Chair George Miller  Richmond Office:  (510) 262-6500

Member Howard "Buck" McKeon   Santa Clarita Office: (661) 254-2111

Member Duncan Hunter El Cajon Office: (619) 448-5201

Member Susan Davis  San Diego Office: Phone: (619) 280-5353

Hit the "read more" link for more info.

 
Maybe you or someone you know lives in their districts.  If so, they will definitely want to hear from you.  But you can call or email them, regardless, because they are on the committee that makes decisions about something you care about, and this is how things work.  You care about something.  You know about something.  You communicate what you know and care about to the people who make decisions about it - so that they can make the best decision possible.

Providing Adult Education to low level students is important.  People making decisions about Adult Education funding need to understand that.

CCAE provided helpful information in pdf form about Adult Education, including a rationale for collaboration (copies and pasted below).   Look on the lower left for links to the pdfs.

From CCAE:  Rationale for Collaboration

As Adult Education practitioners, we are disturbed by recent rumors of adult education’s consolidation with WIA Title I programs. We believe that the result of the reauthorized bill should be a more effective system that educates and trains youth and adults for the 21st century economy.  We support greater coordination between the titles and that is where all of our efforts should be. The many career pathways programs across the country are evidence that collaboration works. 
There is a huge difference between collaboration and consolidation. 

“Nearly 80 percent of the students who enter ABE and ASE programs have skills below the ninth-grade level, with over 40 percent entering with skills below the sixth-grade level.i  Labor programs know job training.  Adult Education knows how to teach reading, math, and English along with critical thinking, problem solving and other job readiness skills.  Collaboration is advantageous in that each collaborator brings its special talents to the mix. 

EDUCATION:  Adult education is an education program that is a pathway for the low skilled and undereducated.  Tens of millions of undereducated adults who need to improve their reading, math, English, problem solving, critical thinking, and career development skills cannot qualify for community college training programs and for high demand jobs. Adult education is their pathway to college and career readiness. 

EMPLOYMENT:  The attached summary from the US Department of Education reports that more adults get a job as a result of adult education participation than ALL of the other WIA programs combined; and at a much lower cost. Also note, this data is from a time before we significantly expanded career pathway options. 

CAREER PATHWAYS:  Because many of those jobs are entry level, the adult education career pathway programs provide continued learning and preparation for eventual entry into the community college and high demand jobs. 

NEGATIVE IMPACT:  Replacing collaboration with consolidation promises negative impacts: 
 Creaming:  The Labor Department would naturally emphasize job placement.  As a result, an adult education program under Labor promises to neglect the lower level learner. It would assign tens of millions of adults to a permanent underclass and permanent under employment.  o  The National Council of State Directors’ report language recommendation for the Senate performance measures addressed that very issue (see attachment). o Training fewer people at higher cost. Consolidation would have the unintended consequence of making the system less efficient, rather than more. 

SUMMARY: 
As a result of participation in adult education, more adults get jobs than via all the other WIA programs combined.  Career pathways programs offer opportunities for adults, once employed to stay engaged in adult education with the goal of transitioning to college training programs. 
Because there are tens of millions (PIAAC and NALS reports) undereducated, under prepared adults who must improve reading, math, English and job readiness skills, there must be an education pipeline through which they can proceed and succeed. 

 

Here are full lists of both committees:



The House Education and Workforce Committee

Republicans                                    Democrats

John Kline-MN,                             Chair George Miller-CA Ranking Member

Tom Petri-WI                                 Robert Andrews-NJ

Howard McKeon-CA                     Robert Scott-VA

Joe Wilson-SC                                Ruben Hinojosa-TX

Virginia Foxx-NC                         Carolyn McCarthy-NY

Kenny Marchant-TX                     John Tierney-MA

Duncan Hunter-CA                       Rush Holt-NJ

Phil Roe-TN                                 Susan Davis-CA

Glenn Thompson-PA                    Raul Grijalva-AZ

Tim Walberg-MI                         Timothy Bishop-NY

Matt Salmon-AZ                          Dave Loebsack-IA

Brett Guthrie-KY                         Joe Courtney-CT

Scott Desjarlais-TN                     Marcia Fudge-OH

Todd Rokita-IN                          Jared Polis-CO

Trey Gowdy-SC                         Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sabian-MP

Lou Barletta-PA                          Frederica Wilson-FL

Martha Roby-A                          Suzanne Bonamici-OR

Joe Heck-NV                              John Yarmuth-KY

Susan Brooks-IN

Richard Hudson-NC

Luke Messer-IN


 


Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee


Democrats                                       Republicans

Tom Harkin-IA Chair                     Lamar Alexander-TN Ranking Member

Barbara Mikulski-MD                    Mike Enzi-WY

Patty Murray-WA                          Richard Burr-NC

Bernie Sanders-VT                        Johnny Isakson-GA

Bob Casey-PA                               Rand Paul-KY

Kay Hagan-NC                               Orrin Hatch-UT

Al Franken-MN                              Pat Roberts-KS

Michael Bennet-CO                      Lisa Murkowski-AK

Sheldon Whitehouse-RI               Mark Kirk-IL

Tammy Baldwin-WI                    Tim Scott-SC

Christopher Murphy-CT

Elizabeth Warren-MA


 
 
 
 
 
 
April 18th, 2014 - Good news from CCAE:
CCAE State Logo
WIA Reauthorization - We all won!
Larriann Torrez
CCAE Board President

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Please review the following attachments below.
        


WE ALL WON
 
We have been informed by a good authority that THERE WILL NOT BE ANY CONSOLIDATION OF TITLES I, II in the final WIA reauthorization legislation so we are closing down the campaign  to achieve that goal.
 
Please congratulate all of the people in your networks: staff, students, friends of adult education, etc. for their work. In a forty eight hour time span you were able to have a massive targeted impact on policy makers on an issue that was critical to the future of adult education in our country.
 
We don't often have the opportunity to celebrate an accomplishment of this magnitude in the public policy field. Celebrate this one.
 
Thank you on behalf of the 1.8 million current adult education students and all those who will be in our classes in the future.

 
Sincerely,
 
Larriann Torrez
CCAE State President


 
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