[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 64 (Wednesday, April 9, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2527-S2528]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. REED (for himself and Mr. Young):
  S. 1400. 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, and the latest international assessments show that it 
is only getting worse. 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.
  The latest results for U.S. adults on the Program for the 
International Assessment of Adult Competencies, PIAAC, are sobering. 
Between 2017 and 2023, literacy and numeracy skills sank, with the 
percentage of adults at the lowest performance levels increasing from 
19 to 28 percent in literacy and from 29 to 34 percent 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. A recent study from the Adult Literacy and Learning 
Impact Network, found that over 80 percent of the adults surveyed 
indicated a strong or moderate interest in developing their skills, but 
only 20 percent reported knowing about existing programs in their 
communities. At current funding levels, the Department of Education 
reports that 1.1 million individuals were served, with over one-third 
of programs reporting waiting lists.
  In my home State of Rhode Island, there are over 61,000 adults who 
could benefit from English language instruction and nearly 64,000 
working-age adults without a high school credential. Yet, under current 
funding levels, the adult education program serves just over 5,100 
individuals.
  The Adult Education WORKS Act provides a roadmap for addressing this 
crisis. It calls for increased resources, nearly doubling funding for 
adult education by 2030. 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.

[[Page S2528]]

  In developing this legislation, Senator Young and I worked closely 
with key stakeholders, who are 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, the TESOL, Teaching English to Speakers of 
Other Languages, International Association, and the Urban Libraries 
Council among the supporters of this legislation.
  I urge my colleagues to cosponsor this legislation and work with us 
to ensure it is passed on its own or as part of legislation to 
reauthorize the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act.

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