PROVIDENCE -- Half the jobs in New England now require at least
some college education. Among newly created jobs, it's 80 percent. And
it's not just the diplomas that count; employers want specific skills.
Yet 4 in 10 New Englanders can't read or do math well enough to
interpret a flight schedule, or understand their credit-card bill. Many
can't even handle a job application.
New England has a serious problem, a report released yesterday shows,
and Rhode Island has it particularly bad.
Drawing on data from the 1992 National Adult Literacy Survey -- the most
recent available -- researchers at Jobs for the Future, a Boston
work-force development agency, estimated that 47 percent of Rhode
Islanders lack the literacy skills needed in jobs that pay enough to
support a family.
Recent U.S. Census figures suggest the outlook may have improved in the
last decade: 22 percent of Rhode Islanders over 25 had less than a high
school diploma or general equivalency diploma in 2000, compared to 28
percent in 1990.
But the skill level required for jobs has risen so dramatically, and the
range of jobs available to the illiterate has shrunk so much, the
report's authors said, that millions of New England families face
chronic poverty, and New England's long-term economic health is at risk.
Worst of all, the region's adult-literacy programs are too small and
scattered to make a significant dent in the problem, the report shows.
Of an estimated 4,260,000 New Englanders who need adult basic education,
and about 847,000 who are actively seeking it, only about 83,300 are
being served.
In Rhode Island, where an estimated 368,000 adults need literacy
instruction, only 5,592 were served last year.
Blenda J. Wilson, president and CEO of the Nellie Mae Foundation, which
commissioned the report, said it should serve as "a rallying cry" to
boost investment in adult education and make it a policy priority.
Gary S. Sasse, executive director of the Rhode Island Public Expenditure
Council, called the literacy gap in the state "a prescription for
disaster."
And because most work-force training programs require at least basic
reading and math skills, he said, the shortage of literacy instruction
is creating a "bottleneck" in our economy.
ADULT EDUCATION takes many forms, from basic reading and math
instruction all the way to GED and college preparation, as well as
English and civics instruction for the region's fast-growing immigrant
population.
Of the 5,592 people served in Rhode Island's adult-education programs
last year, 35 percent were in basic courses, 27 percent in
secondary-level courses such as GED preparation, and 38 percent were
English-as-a-second-language students.
Their life circumstances varied dramatically: almost a third were
employed; 1 in 9 was on welfare; 1 in 10 was a prison inmate. Many had
been referred to literacy centers after being deemed incapable of taking
anything but the most menial jobs.
ORQUIDEA SOTO, 19, enrolled at Dorcas Place, an adult literacy and
learning center in Providence, last September, referred through a teen
parent program.
A Dominican immigrant, she did poorly in the Pawtucket public schools
and dropped out after a year at an alternative middle school. She took a
job assembling earrings for $6 an hour, happy to be making money.
"Then I started thinking, 'This is not what I want for the rest of my
life,' " she said. "And I had my son, and that's not what I want for
him."
But Soto couldn't do better.
When she filled out job applications, she found she couldn't understand
some of the questions. "And you're afraid to ask, because they'll say,
'Why are we going to hire you, if you can't even fill out the
application? "
At Dorcas Place, Soto was evaluated and found to be at the
elementary-school level. She has advanced rapidly over the last few
months, building her vocabulary and reading skills and excelling in math
-- now she's geared up to learn basic geometry.
"I like coming here, because every day, you learn something new," she
said. "I didn't feel that way when I was in the public schools."
BRENDA DANN-MESSIER, executive director of Dorcas Place, could introduce
you to countless students like Soto -- and to many more who want to
succeed just like they do, but can't even get into the center's programs.
"We have long waiting lists," Dann-Messier said. "We cannot keep up with
the demand for services."
In October, Dorcas Place is moving into a new building that will nearly
double its capacity from 450 to 800 students, with 14 classrooms and 2
computer labs. The agency has also built a partnership with the
Community College of Rhode Island, to help GED graduates from Dorcas
Place to adapt to the much-tougher world of college.
But all that is still a drop in the bucket, Dann-Messier said. Rhode
Island needs a much larger, better-coordinated, much better-financed
system.
This legislative session, Dann-Messier, Sasse, and many others involved
in adult education and in economic development tried to get state
support for adult programs increased to $3 million; their effort failed.
At the federal level, the outlook isn't much better, U.S. Rep. Patrick
J. Kennedy said yesterday at the official unveiling of the report.
"The bottom line is we have no money," he said. Between the recession,
the war on terrorism, and President Bush's tax cuts, he added, the
budget for education and social services has been reduced to a pittance.
"When are people going to connect the dots?" he said. "When are people
going to get outraged?"
To read the full "Rising to the Literacy Challenge" report, go to the
Nellie Mae Foundation's Web site,
http://www.nelliemaefoundation.org.
