[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 190 (Wednesday, December 7, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Page S7036]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. REED (for himself and Mr. Young):
  S. 5202. A bill to amend the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act 
and the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act to strengthen adult 
education; to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
  Mr. REED. Mr. President, we have a longstanding adult literacy crisis 
that affects the quality of life for individuals and families and holds 
our economy back. It is time for a major expansion of adult education. 
Today, I am proud to introduce bipartisan legislation--the Adult 
Education Workforce Opportunity and Reskilling for Knowledge and 
Success Act, or the Adult Education WORKS Act--with my colleague 
Senator Young.
  Adult education provides numeracy, literacy, digital literacy, 
English language skills, work readiness, soft skills, high school 
equivalency, and numerous wraparound services to millions of adult 
learners nationwide--all essential skills. They can be the difference 
between earning a family-sustaining wage and struggling to make ends 
meet. A study commissioned by the Barbara Bush Foundation estimated 
that getting all U.S. adults to the equivalent of a sixth grade reading 
level would generate an additional $2.2 trillion in annual income for 
the country. Without the opportunities provided through adult education 
programs, many adults will be left on the sidelines.
  According to recent National Center for Education Statistics, NCES, 
data, 43 million adults are low-skilled in literacy and 62.7 million 
adults are low-skilled in numeracy. Building a sustainable economy that 
truly works for everyone is going to require helping these individuals 
acquire the basic skills they need to succeed. Unfortunately, we are 
reaching only a fraction of these individuals today. According to the 
Department of Education, at current funding levels, adult education 
programs only serve about 1.1 million people, and an estimated one-
third of local adult education providers have waiting lists.
  The Adult Education WORKS Act provides a roadmap for addressing this 
crisis. It calls for increased resources, doubling funding for adult 
education by 2026. At the same time, it makes significant improvements 
to the adult education system. It calls for a new emphasis on digital 
and information literacy, which are critical for success in the 
workplace and in navigating everyday life. It enhances the role of 
adult education providers, with a special focus on public libraries and 
community-based organizations, throughout the workforce development 
system, ensuring coordination and efficient use of resources. It 
invests in the professionalization of the adult education field, 
strengthening State certification policies, encouraging full-time 
staffing models, and expanding professional development opportunities 
and career pathways for adult educators. It provides support for 
college and career navigators in public libraries and community-based 
organizations to support adult learners where they live. Finally, it 
invests in innovation and accountability through pilot projects that 
test new approaches to measuring program performance and learner 
outcomes.
  In developing this legislation, Senator Young and I worked closely 
with key stakeholders working on the frontlines in the adult education 
community. I am pleased to count the American Library Association, the 
Center for Law and Social Policy, the Coalition on Adult Basic 
Education, the National Coalition for Literacy, ProLiteracy, and TESOL 
among the supporters of this legislation.
  I urge my colleagues to cosponsor this legislation and work with us 
to ensure it is part of any legislation to reauthorize the Workforce 
Innovation and Opportunity Act.

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