[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 77 (Wednesday, May 10, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E990]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


            ADULT EDUCATION AND FAMILY LITERACY ACT OF 1995

                                 ______


                          HON. DALE E. KILDEE

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 10, 1995
  Mr. KILDEE. Mr. Speaker, today I am introducing along with a number 
of my colleagues the Adult Education and Family Literacy Reform Act of 
1995. We are pleased to join with the Administration of this effort to 
improve the way literacy services are provided to adults and families.
  There is a literacy crisis in this country. As the 1993 National 
Adult Literacy survey shows, more than 20 percent of adults performed 
at or below the 5th grade level in reading and math--far below the 
level needed for effective participation in the workforce. And because 
a parent's educational level is a strong predictor of children's 
academic success, the effects of this crisis move from one generation 
to the next with tragic regularity. Despite the obvious need for 
literacy services among our Nation's adults, the Adult Education Act 
serves only a small percentage of those people who need help. This fact 
was underscored by the recent National Evaluation of Adult Education 
Programs. While many adults benefit from participation in the program, 
many leave before they achieve any literacy gains. Overall, the current 
design of adult education and family literacy programs is too diffuse 
and diverts human and financial resources from what should be the focus 
of all Federal literacy efforts; the provision of high-quality, 
results-oriented services.
  The literacy crisis we are facing as a Nation are serious, ranging 
from the diminished productivity of business and industry to the 
inability of parents to help their children do better in school. In 
response, the Adult Education and Family Literacy Reform Act creates, 
by consolidating a number of related programs into a single grant to 
States, a performance partnership designed around five broad 
principles--quality, flexibility, streamlining, consumer choice, and 
targeting.
  The bill responds to concerns regarding the potential duplication of 
adult education and family literacy programs by creating a single 
funding stream to States. It consolidates separate discretionary 
programs for library literacy, workplace literacy, and literacy 
programs for prisoners and the homeless. The bill will ensure that the 
needs of at-risk populations are met and requires States to assess the 
adult education and family literacy needs of the hard-to-serve and 
most-in-need.
  Demand for adult education programs has exploded in recent years for 
reasons as varied as the need to learn English to become an American 
citizen, to upgrade employment skills, to obtain a GED, to learn to 
read and dozens of others too numerous to list today.
  I hope you will join me in helping American adults reach their full 
potential as citizens. Please call Sara Davis or my staff.


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