[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 171 (Wednesday, October 18, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Page S5090]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. REED (for himself and Mr. Young):

[[Page S5090]]

  S. 3075. 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. Madam 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. These essential skills can make 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.
  Estimates from the Program for the International Assessment of Adult 
Competencies, PIACC, indicate that 43 million adults are low-skilled in 
literacy and 63 million 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. PIACC data show that 23 to 30 percent of working-age 
adults with low literacy or numeracy skills wanted to participate in 
adult education but were unable to do so. The Department of Education 
calculates that this means there are up to 16 million adults seeking 
education opportunities from programs that currently serve fewer than 1 
million individuals.
  In my home State of Rhode Island, there are over 61,000 adults who 
could benefit from English language instruction and over 64,000 
working-age adults without a high school credential. Yet, under current 
funding levels, the adult education program serves just over 4,500 
individuals.
  The Adult Education WORKS Act provides a roadmap for addressing this 
crisis. It calls for increased resources, doubling funding for adult 
education by 2029. 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 essential 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 for 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, National Skills 
Coalition, 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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