Establishes family literacy programs for economically disadvantaged families living in poverty areas or areas with low-performing public schools; provides for competitive matching grants to establish a comprehensive program; requires commissioner of education to submit an annual report to the governor and legislature.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A4751REVISED 4/28/23
SPONSOR: Pretlow PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To break the cycle of poverty and illiteracy, and improve educational
opportunities for New York's low-income families by funding family
literacy programs which integrate early childhood development, adult
literacy or adult basic education, inter-generational learning and
parental education.
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 comprehen-
sive family literacy programs. In order to qualify, programs need to
provide an approved family literacy program to eligible families. Para-
graph (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 AMER-
ICA by the National Institute for Literacy, the impacts of low literacy
are many, including:
*Poverty (430 of adults at the lowest level of literacy, Level 1, were
living in poverty compared to 49r, 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!
Nationally, fewer than 10 percent of adults who could benefit from
literacy programs are being served. Recently Congress passed the Work-
force 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 chil-
dren 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 TEE PERFORMANCE OF THE NEW YORK EDUCATION AND
HUMAN RESOURCE SYSTEM, found that, "...the most important family influ-
ences 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 liter-
acy 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 educa-
tion, 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:
2021-2022 A1426 referred to Education
2019-2020 A3669 referred to Education
2017-18 A791 referred to Education
2015-16 A1638 Print Number 1638a
2013-14 A4243A amended and referred to education
2009/2010 Held for consideration in education.
1997-98-A.5505-C
1998-A,10942
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None to State.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take place July 1, 2018.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
4751
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 23, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. PRETLOW -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to establishing family
literacy programs for economically disadvantaged families living in
poverty areas or in areas served by low-performing public schools
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Legislative findings and declaration. It is the purpose of
2 this act to help break the cycle of poverty and illiteracy by improving
3 the educational opportunities for New York's low-income families by
4 funding family literacy programs that integrate early childhood develop-
5 ment, adult literacy or adult basic education, inter-generational learn-
6 ing and parenting education. The legislature finds and declares that the
7 provision of comprehensive family literacy programs will help many
8 parents and children living in poverty to improve their lives. The
9 legislature finds that, based on national and state surveys, persons
10 with low literacy levels are most likely to live in poverty and be
11 dependent on public assistance. The legislature finds that a compar-
12 atively high percentage of students attending low-performing public
13 schools live in poverty or have parents with limited English language
14 proficiency or poor literacy skills. The legislature finds that there is
15 inadequate funding to address the illiteracy problem in these communi-
16 ties. Therefore, the legislature finds that it is necessary to fund
17 family literacy programs targeted to economically disadvantaged families
18 residing in poverty areas or in attendance zones served by low-perform-
19 ing public schools to assist adults and children living in these commu-
20 nities to obtain the skills they need to lead successful and productive
21 lives.
22 § 2. Section 3641 of the education law is amended by adding a new
23 subdivision 18 to read as follows:
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD07632-01-3
A. 4751 2
1 18. Family literacy grants. Within the amount appropriated for such
2 purpose, the commissioner is directed and authorized to award compet-
3 itive matching grants to eligible providers to support the establishment
4 of comprehensive family literacy programs. In order to be eligible for
5 such a grant, a grantee shall provide an approved family literacy
6 program to eligible families.
7 a. Definitions. As used in this section:
8 (1) "Family literacy program" means services that are of sufficient
9 intensity in terms of hours and of sufficient duration to make sustaina-
10 ble changes to a family and that integrate all of the following activ-
11 ities: interactive literacy activities between parents and their chil-
12 dren; education for parents regarding how to be the primary teacher for
13 their children and full partners in the education of their children;
14 parent literacy preparation that leads to economic self-sufficiency; and
15 an age-appropriate education to prepare children for success in school
16 and life experiences.
17 (2) "Eligible parent" means an individual who is: (i) in parental
18 relation to an eligible child, as defined by the commissioner, and (ii)
19 in need of adult basic education, as defined in this section.
20 (3) "Eligible child" means a child from birth through age twelve who
21 has one or more eligible parents.
22 (4) "Eligible family" means a family unit which contains one or more
23 eligible parents and one or more eligible children and whose family
24 income is at or below the poverty level and who resides in an area of
25 poverty or in an attendance zone served by a low-performing public
26 school, both as defined by the commissioner.
27 (5) "Eligible provider" means a school district or a board of cooper-
28 ative educational services in partnership with a public agency or a
29 private, nonsectarian not-for-profit agency.
30 (6) "Authorized expenditures" means those expenses related to instruc-
31 tion, assessment, counseling, administration, purchase of instructional
32 materials, purchase or lease of approved equipment, cost of in-service
33 training for participating instructors and counselors, designed to serve
34 eligible families and other administrative and program costs as approved
35 by the commissioner, or for the statewide evaluation of family literacy
36 programs.
37 (7) "Adult education" means services or instruction below the postse-
38 condary level for individuals:
39 (A) who have attained sixteen years of age;
40 (B) who are not enrolled or required to be enrolled in secondary
41 school under law; and
42 (C) who (i) lack sufficient mastery of basic educational skills to
43 enable the individuals to function effectively in society;
44 (ii) do not have a secondary school diploma or its recognized equiv-
45 alent, and have not achieved an equivalent level of education; or
46 (iii) are unable to speak, read, or write the English language.
47 b. Award of grants. (1) Eligible providers shall submit proposals to
48 the commissioner, including program budgets, to fund authorized expendi-
49 tures in support of family literacy programs designed to serve eligible
50 families. Such proposals shall be in a form and shall be submitted on a
51 schedule prescribed by the commissioner.
52 (2) The commissioner shall adopt regulations to establish eligibility
53 criteria and procedures for the award of such grants and to otherwise
54 implement the provisions of this section, provided that a dollar-for-
55 dollar match shall be required of any eligible provider applying for
56 such grants.
A. 4751 3
1 (3) The commissioner shall award grants on a competitive basis using
2 the eligibility criteria established in regulation and shall determine
3 the amount of each grant award, provided that a statewide evaluation
4 grant shall not exceed fifty thousand dollars.
5 c. Payment schedule. Subject to the availability of funds for such
6 purpose, upon approval of a proposal by the commissioner, the commis-
7 sioner shall provide for the advance of twenty-five percent of the grant
8 amount. The remaining portion of the grant allocation shall be distrib-
9 uted according to a schedule prescribed by the commissioner, upon
10 submission by the eligible provider and approval by the commissioner of
11 progress reports and a final report.
12 d. Annual report. On or before March fifteenth, two thousand twenty-
13 seven and by March first of each year thereafter, the commissioner shall
14 submit to the governor, the temporary president of the senate, and the
15 speaker of the assembly a report describing and evaluating the family
16 literacy programs funded pursuant to this section.
17 § 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2026.
