PBS June Special on the need and benefit of adult basic skills

Hello LINCS Colleagues,

You might be interested in an eight-minute June 11th PBS News Hour Special on the need for, and successes of, adult basic skills education, "Why 36 million American adults can’t read enough to work — and how to help them ."

Who do you know who might be interested in looking at this video: adult learners, teachers, volunteer tutors, program managers, board members, donors, local foundation staff members, elected officials? Who else?  If you decide to show it, I would be interested to know what the reactions are.

David J. Rosen, Moderator

LINCS CoP, Program Management group

Comments

This is great; thanks for sharing. Great general information explaining the potential impact of ABE. Share with all of the above!

Thank you, David!  This is a great reminder of how important adult education is to those we serve.

Jeri

David, these are stories that those of us serving adult have recited/quoted for many, many years in this country! I'm glad that PBS has helped us share the sad news.

Who might be interested? My sense is that those who are interested have already gotten the message. Certainly, those who are victims of poor funding have gotten the message. Who should be interested? All legislators, for sure, who haven't grasped the seriousness of the problem; all state governors, for sure, who do not recognize the critical need to spend state funds on educating their adults; and certainly newscasters and investigators who cover other crises that, in my opinion, are less threatening to us.

Hat's off to Janet Mills for providing a state model to funding adult education! I find it intriguing that her name was not mentioned once unless I missed it... Thanks for asking, David. Leecy

Thanks Leecy.

State governors, newscasters and investigators are good suggestions for who might benefit from seeing the PBS video, and I think  you are referring to Maine Governor Janet Mills' recently-signed two-year state budget, with line items that include $900,000 for adult education and $3 million for adult degree completion. That is impressive! I wonder what our Maine colleagues here think that budget might mean for adult basic skills programs in Maine over the next couple of years.

Do others have suggestions for who should see the recent PBS video, or for equally good videos that might help the general public, newscasters and investigators, and policy makers become more aware of the need for adult basic skills education?

David J. Rosen