Return-Path: <nifl-family@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with SMTP id h1KL79P02104; Thu, 20 Feb 2003 16:07:09 -0500 (EST) Date: Thu, 20 Feb 2003 16:07:09 -0500 (EST) Message-Id: <002401c2d923$70efed50$2c881a0a@tpeyton> Errors-To: listowner@literacy.nifl.gov Reply-To: nifl-family@literacy.nifl.gov Originator: nifl-family@literacy.nifl.gov Sender: nifl-family@literacy.nifl.gov Precedence: bulk From: "Tony Peyton" <tpeyton@famlit.org> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-family@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-FAMILY:1419] Policy Update X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook, Build 10.0.4510 Content-Type: text/plain; Status: O Content-Length: 6083 Lines: 115 Policy Update February 20, 2003 First, I want to remind all of you who contacted your Members of Congress regarding the fiscal year 2003 Even Start funding issue to remember to thank your Representatives and Senators for their help. As you will see below, we are going to need the help of Congress again... The following is a press release from NCFL regarding the Administration's fiscal year 2004 budget request which includes a $75 million cut in Even Start funding. The budget process is a long one, so over the next several months we will be encouraging family literacy supporters to contact Members of Congress to encourage them to support and maintain Even Start funding. Advocacy from the field is the most powerful tool we can use to advance the cause of family literacy. Please let me know if you have questions regarding this press release and look forward to additional messages in the near future. Tony Peyton Director, Policy and Government Relations National Center for Family Literacy (502) 584-1133 x.126 ****************************************** PRESS RELEASE NCFL Responds to President Bush's Budget Request for Even Start Louisville, KY (February 19, 2003) - The National Center for Family Literacy (NCFL) is disappointed by the Administration's fiscal year 2004 budget request for the William F. Goodling Even Start Family Literacy Program. While the Administration suggests that Even Start has produced "mixed" results, the experience of tens of thousands of families as well as an impartial evaluation indicate otherwise. "I was astounded to learn that the President's budget included a $75 million reduction in Even Start funding," said Sharon Darling, NCFL founder and president. Darling added, "NCFL knows the value of quality, well-implemented Even Start programs and will continue to work for Congressional support of Even Start so that families in need will continue to receive these vital services." Even Start, begun with bipartisan support in 1988, has touched the lives of thousands of disadvantaged children and their parents. While recognizing that parents are a child's first and most important teacher, Even Start provides adult literacy training along with children's education by bringing the parent and child into the learning environment together. Even Start services are critical to our nation's neediest families as strongly-implemented programs yield success for multiple generations. There is an ongoing and critical need for Even Start services in America. According to the U.S. Department of Education's No Child Left Behind: A Desktop Reference, "Based on an analysis of the Census Bureau's Current Population Survey data from 1997, about 4,350,000 families were considered eligible for the program, as defined by age of children in a household and the educational attainment of the children's parents. Almost two million of these eligible families were living in poverty." (p.31) In 2002, approximately 1,071 Even Start sites served 77,000 children and 58,000 adults. Eighty-four percent of Even Start participants live at or below the federal poverty level. Seventy percent are minorities, while Hispanics alone compose 46% of the Even Start population. Numerous studies and evaluations of family literacy programs, including Even Start, have shown that with sufficient intensity and duration, quality family literacy services yield both short and long-term impacts for children and their parents. Family literacy programs provide an excellent means of satisfying the outcome-based goals of current federal education policy and accountability as promoted by the Bush Administration. Yet, the President's proposed cut could mean the loss of up to 300 Even Start programs across the country. This action would prove devastating for the families in America who live with the ravaging effects of poverty and could benefit from Even Start services. Published Even Start national evaluations have shown positive outcomes for children and their parents. The second national evaluation found that children achieved significant gains on the Preschool Inventory, a test of school readiness, as well as on the Preschool Language Scale, a test of language development. On average, parents raised their scores on the Tests of Adult Basic Education by one and one half grade levels. Building upon the national evaluations, there is growing evidence at the local and state levels that well-implemented Even Start programs employing research-based strategies provide sustained benefits for families. For example: * In New York, 63% of Even Start children in grades 1-3 were reported by their teachers as reading on grade level or higher. Sixty-six percent of the adults who had been reading below 8.9 grade level demonstrated a one-grade level gain or greater within one program year. Numerous members of Congress praised Even Start during the passage of the Literacy Involves Families Together (LIFT) Act, which reauthorized Even Start in 2000. Additionally, the recent inclusion of family literacy services as a critical element in the No Child Left Behind Act illustrates Congressional support for this important program. In this national effort to "Leave No Child Behind", Even Start programs serve our nation's children most at risk of being "left behind." "Even Start programs serve our nation's poorest and most undereducated families," added Darling. "We cannot afford to pull the rug out from under these families and expect to succeed as a nation." The National Center for Family Literacy has pioneered a program that combines children's education, adult literacy education, parent education and structured interaction between parents and their children. NCFL works to ensure that all families at the lowest ends of both the literacy and economic continua will have opportunities to improve their education and social well-being through quality, family literacy programs. For more information, please visit our Web site: www.famlit.org or call the Family Literacy InfoLine: 1-877-FAMLIT-1.
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