Establishes family literacy programs for economically disadvantaged families living in poverty areas or areas with low-performing public schools

Summary of specific provisions

Section 1 is the legislative finding for family literacy programs.

Section 2 creates family literacy grants, authorizing the Commissioner of Education to award competitive matching grants to support comprehensive family literacy programs. In order to qualify, programs need to provide an approved family literacy program to eligible families. Paragraph (a) defines relevant terms. Paragraph (b) implements the procedure for awarding grants and reporting requirements. Paragraph (c) sets up a payment schedule for providers. Paragraph (d) requires an annual report evaluating family literacy programs.

Justification

In 1991, the National Literacy Act defined literacy as: "an individual's ability to read, write, and speak in English, and compute and solve problems at levels of proficiency necessary to function on the job and in society, to achieve one's goals, and develop one's knowledge and potential."

According to the 1998 report, THE STATE OF LITERACY IN AMERICA by the National Institute for Literacy, the impacts of low literacy are many, including:

*Poverty (43% of adults at the lowest level of literacy, Level 1, were living in poverty compared to 4% at Level 5);

*Welfare (Three out of four food stamp recipients performed in the two lowest literacy levels);

*Income (Adults at Level 1 earned a median income of $240 per week, compared to $681 for those at Level 5);

*Employment Status (Adults at Level 1 worked an average of 19 weeks per year compared to 44 weeks per year for those at Level 5);

*Crime (Seven in ten prisoners performed in the lowest two literacy levels).

IN NEW YORK STATE, 25% OF THE ADULT POPULATION IS AT LEVEL 1, which is the lowest level of literacyNationally, fewer than 10 percent of adults who could benefit from literacy programs are being served. Recently Congress passed the Workforce Investment Act, Title II - Adult Education and Family Literacy Act which creates a partnership

among the federal government, states and localities to provide family education and literacy services. This bill will initiate family literacy programs at the state level in conjunction with the federal effort. By enacting this proposal, New York will begin to create programs necessary to comply with the Workforce Investment Act.

Comprehensive family literacy programs will help many parents and children living in poverty to improve their lives many currently existing programs are at full capacity with long waiting lists. In 1996, the Rand Corporation report, USING DATA TO EVALUATE THE PERFORMANCE OF THE NEW YORK EDUCATION AND HUMAN RESOURCE SYSTEM, found that, "...the most important family influences on student test scores are the level of parental education, family size, family income and the age of the mother when the child is born."

Family literacy is increasingly being recognized as the future of literacy education for adults and children together. Increasing the levels of literacy and education for parents helps them to support the early literacy skills for their children. Educators, economists, legislators and public policy experts are all coming to realize that the recent emphasis on, increasing standards for students, early childhood education, including all-day kindergarten and Universal Pre-K, cannot succeed if we neglect the most important influence in a child's environment: their parents. Putting adult literacy education in the same milieu with elementary and secondary education will result in increased achievement, easier transitions for welfare-to-work, a more skilled workforce, and decreased poverty and crime. In 1994-95 for every dollar spent on adult education, $2.65 was returned to the economy. The modest investment made by this bill will translate into significant economic and social improvement for our State.

Prior legislative history

2009/2010 Held for consideration in education. 1997-98-A.5505-C 1996-A.10942

Fiscal implications for state and local governments

None.

Effective date

This act shall take place July 1, 2016.