I know everyone's outrage meters are pegged, popped, kerfluey, but I'd like to call attention to yet another budget cut.
Even Start, a program designed to improve literacy in low-income families, has been eliminated by Bush in the new budget. [http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2006/02/07/bush_budget_would_slash_aid_to_state/ Link to Boston Globe article that refers to the program's elimination]
Below the fold I will provide some basic information about the program, as well as some evidence as to why literacy education is so necessary in this country.
More below the fold
Even Start
Even Start is an education program for the Nation's low-income families that is designed to improve the academic achievement of young children and their parents, especially in the area of reading. Even Start offers promise for helping to break the intergenerational cycle of poverty and low literacy in the Nation by combining four core components which make up family literacy:
* early childhood education
* adult literacy (adult basic and secondary-level education and/or instruction for English language learners)
* parenting education
∑ interactive literacy activities between parents and their children.
from Ed.gov's page on Even Start funding
Even Start was established in 1999; by 2005 its yearly appropriation was $225,910,000.
In 2001, Congress established that each state needed to assess their Even Start programs. Scott Himelstein, Chairman of the Even Start Association, testified in front of the House Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services and Education on August 28, 2005.
According to the US Department of Education, no other education program serves a population as disadvantaged as the one served by Even Start Family Literacy programs. Even Start families are significantly more disadvantaged than Head Start families. Nearly 90 percent of Even Start families had an income below the federal poverty level with nearly half of all parents having incomes below $6000. Even Start parents are far more educationally disadvantaged than families served by other programs. Only 15 percent of parents had a high school diploma or GED when they enrolled in Even Start, compared with over 70 percent of Head Start parents. Even Start families are four times less likely to be employed than Head Start families when they join Even Start. A significant body of research exists showing that children who grow up in high-risk environments face considerable challenges as they enter school.
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In Florida, more than 80 percent of the children who participated in Even Start were deemed "Ready for School" by the state's pre-Kindergarten screening compared to a statewide average of 75 percent. In New York State, 80 percent of preschool children enter Even Start with literacy scores below the 50th percentile on the Preschool Language Scale-a well-regarded and rigorous assessment. Yet, over 75 percent of those children make more than a one year gain in language development during a year of Even Start preschool--including the children whose native language is not English and children with disabilities.
Why literacy still matters in the United States
I know I'm preaching to the choir, here, but maybe I can dig up some statistics that you haven't seen.
First of all, literacy is defined in a lot of different ways. Some limit the term to reading and writing, while others include speaking, listening, basic math skills, and even basic computer familiarity. Many of the adults who come to our local literacy center are trying to get help with tasks that most of us consider very basic:
- Getting a driver's license
- Reading a ballot
- Reading prescription information
- Sending a note to their child's teacher
Others come with more advanced goals:
- Getting their GED
- Passing their citizenship exam
- Writing reports at work so they can accept a promotion
In our small city in northern Wisconsin, about 50% of the adults who come through our literacy center are native-born Americans and 50% are English Language Learners (ELL). While the American-born learners often have superb adapting skills, for a variety of reasons they have made it this far in life without being able to read or write. The goal of Even Start is to nip this in the bud and help the lower-income children who have a greater chance of getting behind in their literacy skills succeed in school.
Some literacy statistics:
(Two major literacy surveys have been done in the last 15 years: 1992 National Adult Literacy Survey (NALS) and National Assessments of Adult Literacy (NAAL 2003))
Adults functioning at the lowest level: 21% and 23% (approximately 40 to 44 million people) The lowest level refers to being able to do short, uncomplicated tasks or none at all.
Adults functioning at the second level: 25 to 28% (approximately 50 million) This level is still quite limited, but they can locate information in a text or compare two prices.
2/3 to 3/4 of those on public assistance perform at the lowest two levels of literacy
The health care industry estimates $73 billion in unnecessary expenses to due to poor literacy
U.S. businesses report spending an average of $600 million per year on remedial reading, writng, and math skills training