President Bush’s FY 2006 Budget and the Impact on Adult Education and Family Literacy in New York State
Proposed changes
Impact of 64% cut
Impact of WIA Plus Consolidated Grant Program
What is the solution?
Proposed changes
There are two proposed changes in the budget that President Bush just submitted to Congress that could dramatically affect adult education and family literacy programs (Title II of the Workforce Investment Act) in New York State:
- Cut of nearly 64% in federal funding. The budget is reduced from $569 million to $207 million for WIA Title II (adult education and family literacy).
- Potential consolidation with other funding streams into a block grant called the “WIA Plus Consolidated Grant Program.” The governor of each state will have the option of consolidating adult education and family literacy with other “job training” programs administered by the U.S. Departments of Education, Agriculture, and Labor into a single job training block grant. The specific programs that could be consolidated are:
- Adult education and family literacy (U.S. Department of Education)
- Vocational rehabilitation (U.S. Department of Education)
- Veterans Employment (U.S. Department of Labor)
- Food Stamps Employment and Training (U.S. Department of Agriculture)
- Trade Adjustment Assistance Training (U.S. Department of Labor)
Participating states will “submit a single State Integration Plan and will report through a single system identified by the governor….Program-specific requirements will be minimized. However, drops in participant levels for targeted populations, such as individuals with disabilities, will not be allowed….States will develop strategies to meet increasingly rigorous performance standards each year, leading to a goal of 100 percent placement in employment of the workers trained each year with grant sources. As part of their State Integration Plan, states will be required to develop benchmarks to track annual yearly progress towards that goal.”
What would be the impact of a 64% cut in funding?
Adult education programs in New York State annually serve over 165,000 educationally disadvantaged out-of-school youth and adults, age 16 and over who are out-of-school and lack a high school diploma or the equivalent. These are people who are seeking to improve their lives and meet their adult responsibilities as parents, workers, and citizens. Programs enable parents to learn English, read to their children, and support their children’s success in school. They enable incarcerated youth and adults to transition into society and the workforce. Programs provide the literacy, English language proficiency, and/or high school equivalency diploma to obtain, retain, and advance in employment. The majority of students served are low income or working poor. Over 91% are of working age, under age 60.
Adult education and family literacy in New York State is an effective program. It has met or exceeded federal performance targets every year, since the accountability system was created.
A 64% cut would eliminate over 33,000 full time instructional seats, affecting as many as 50,000 students. This will occur a time of overwhelming need: one in four New Yorkers, approximately 3.4 million, do not have a high school diploma or the equivalent; the number of adults with limited English language proficiency is mushrooming; family literacy and health literacy programs are being developed to close the achievement gap for children in high need schools across the state. The immediate demand is great. Without advertising (only word of mouth), the wait to enter English language programs in New York City is six months to one-year. Many programs no longer keep waiting lists but use lotteries to ration access to limited classroom seats.
The federal adult education and family funds that would be slashed are the only source to support program and staff development, a state hotline, and New York’s accountability system that raises program performance and ensures that only high-performing programs are funded. The State’s network of seven regional staff development centers would be closed. The cuts would end initiatives for distance learning, more effective use of technology for instruction, efforts to connect adult education with access to postsecondary programs, and effective service to adults with disabilities and learning disability.
What is the impact of the possible consolidation?
The WIA Plus Consolidated Grant program would be equally devastating.
- The only guarantee would be that adults without a diploma or the equivalent are somehow served. There would be no requirement to provide literacy, English language instruction, or high school equivalency preparation.
- The sole focus would be job placement—not educational gain or learning English, placement in postsecondary education, increasing a parent’s ability to help her child succeed in school, or attainment of a high school equivalency diploma.
- The rich variety of programs (family literacy, GED preparation, English language proficiency, citizenship, parent education) would be eliminated.
- The 100% job placement goal would be an overwhelming incentive to cream: to serve only those adults who are the most job ready, leaving the most disadvantaged behind.
- Since program administration would shift out of the New York State Department of Education, strong connections with state literacy dollars and education efforts to close the achievement gap, connect with vocational rehabilitation or higher education would be lost.
- In New York, the State Education Department (NYSED) is not governed or overseen by the Governor. NYSED administers both the adult education and family literacy program and also includes New York’s vocational rehabilitation (VR) agency. NYSED is governed by the Board of Regents. Under the state constitution, New York’s legislature elects the Board of Regents to govern NYSED and the board, in turn, appoints a Commissioner of Education. The proposed WIA Plus Consolidation Grant conflicts with this governance structure, creating a separation of powers issue and difficult governance dilemmas for New York.
What is the solution?
- Restore funding to $529 million.
- Oppose consolidation or at least modify the language so that:
“In a State in which the State constitution places policymaking authority that is independent of the authority of the Governor in an entity or official with respect to the funds for adult education and family literacy authorized under Title II of the Workforce Investment Act and vocational rehabilitation services offered under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29U.S.C. 701 et seq.), the determination with respect to consolidation will be made by the chief officer of the entity with such authority in consultation with the Governor.”