Today, we continue posting testimony by adult learners and staff who testified at the Office of the State Superintendent of Education’s budget hearing on Tuesday, April 27th. Adult Education and Family Literacy is facing a potential cut of almost one million dollars. If you want to help, please send off our email petition here.
by Carolyn Morrissey
Chairman Gray, Members of the Council, members of the Committee of the Whole, my name is Carolyn Morrissey. I am Executive Director of Language ETC. With me at this table are Jennifer Browning, Chairman of the Board of Language ETC; Susan Hattan, a Board member; and Jose Reyes, a District resident and owner of the popular El Tamarindo restaurant who is representing our many students.
We have come today to ask you and your colleagues on the DC Council for help in providing adequate funding in the DC budget for adult education programs. Language ETC is the largest nonprofit provider of English as a Second Language or ESL services in the District of Columbia. We serve about 1,600 immigrants in this area each year. We have provided English Language instruction, computer classes and other educational services to adult immigrants in our community for over 15 years.
We want to express our dismay and deep concern about just how devastating the Mayor’s budget proposal is to adult education in the District. The proposed $965,000 reduction cuts all local spending for adult education beyond the bare minimum required to qualify for federal funds. It conveys an alarming lack of regard on the part of the city for the needs of a large segment of the city’s population. Approximately one in five adult residents lacks basic literacy skills. More than five percent of DC residents speak English “less than very well”—which is the Census category most often used to indicate a need for ESL classes.
The future economic health and growth of our city relies on greater investment in human capital to empower more citizens to contribute to the local economy. This budget proposal would move us in the opposite—and wrong—direction, increasing the demand for social services in the long term and therefore costs to the city.
At the same time these drastic cuts are being proposed, the Mayor is expecting the Office the State Superintendent for Education (OSSE) to achieve a five percent increase in the number of adult learners completing a valid pre-test and 12 or more hours of instruction. Likewise, the budget assumes a three-percentage-point increase (33% to 36%) in adult learners who complete an educational functional literacy level.
These are admirable goals, and Language ETC would like nothing more that to be able to contribute to their achievement. In fact, we already account for nearly 25% of the adult students with 12 or more hours of instruction educated under OSSE’s Adult and Family Education Program. Based on standardized tests at each level, we estimate that between 900 and 1,000 adults studying at Language ETC increase their language skills at least one level during the academic year.
Given our record of success, we are able to be an important partner in this effort. And we want to be. However, it is simply unrealistic to expect a major growth in productivity at the same time the budget for services is being slashed.
We don’t say this lightly. For the past two years, we have worked aggressively to find efficiencies in our operation that would reduce costs without downgrading service. As you may recall, we testified before the Council last year to describe the financial challenges we were facing and the steps we were taking to streamline an already lean operation.
After two years of belt-tightening, like other programs in the city, we’re rapidly running out of options that won’t cut into our core services. This is particularly true as demand for our services continues to increase. Let me briefly explain why:
Staffing: Our model relies almost entirely on volunteers. About 300 volunteers work with the approximately 700 adult students from over 60 countries enrolled in a typical term. We are open 7 days a week and offer day, evening, and weekend courses. We provide training for our volunteer teachers and tutors with the frequently donated or reduced fee services of professional teachers and university instructors in the field. Our 4 full-time employees and a few part-time employees are the bare minimum needed to develop and deliver a quality program of this magnitude.
Overhead: We have the benefit of below-market rental rates from a generous landlord.
Tuition: Last year, we raised tuition from $100 to $120. Three years ago, tuition comprised 30% of our budget. Today, it represents nearly 40%.
Our annual budget is approximately $700,000. Because we have been able to leverage substantial volunteer resources, the annual cost to advance an adult one level in English literacy is about $700. And this does not take into account hundreds of others who spend less than a year in classes, come for computer classes, tutoring or citizenship classes.
We recognize the stresses placed on the city and many worthy organizations during these harsh economic times and the difficult choices faced by the Council. But, it is essential that our adult education students not be abandoned and left without the means to improve their lives and support their families. Continuing the investment in our students will pay off for the city in a myriad of ways: increasing the number of qualified workers, who pay more taxes, more enthusiastically participate in the community and improve the quality of life for all District residents. Ours in an investment in the city’s future. We need your help, and we urge you to reject the massive adult education cuts proposed by the Mayor.
