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 Jose Reyes
Council Chairman Gray and other members of the City Council:
My name is Jose Reyes and I am the owner of El Tamarindo Restaurant in Washington, DC. As a student of the adult education program at Language ETC I am pleased to be here to testify at this important meeting.
The program at Language ETC, and others like it, is very important for its students, for the city of Washington DC and for the United States. Programs such as this help educate many thousands of adults. In the case of Language ETC, hundreds of adult immigrant students, such as me, take English classes each term. This improves their ability to be part of the community and helps them obtain better jobs. As these students improve their English, they increase their involvement in the community and become better citizens.
The economic part of this story is also important. As the employment situation of these individuals improves this helps toward improving the economic situation of the United States. In my specific case, when I arrived in the United States at the age of 20 from El Salvador I did not speak English and had no education. Having recently arrived I studied at home and learned from my experiences on the street. This is obviously not the best learning environment for a young adult. This community needs formal centers of education to provide education for its youth and adult citizens. Education helps to improve their job stability and it also plays a large part in decreasing problems in the city. When an adult does not have an education they are more likely to become involved in unsafe activities.
Funding for adult education programs is very important for these and many other reasons. I beg you to take this into consideration as you debate whether to cut funding in this area.
Thank you so much for letting me discuss with you what I think is so important for this city.
