A coalition of adult education providers and advocates claim that high rates of illiteracy among DCPS parents not only has a negative impact on the city’s education reform efforts but also on the city’s ability to produce a well-qualified workforce and to reduce poverty within the District of Columbia. The DC City Council would seem to agree, passing a resolution that recognizes September 23 – 29 as Adult Education and Family Literacy Week. The resolution points out that the most effective way to improve the academic success of a child is to improve the educational level of the involved parent.

The gesture is laudable but a resolution alone does nothing to help meet the needs of the 1 in 5 adult residents of the District who struggle to read and write, or their families who are inevitably impacted as well. The story of one such family is featured in the video below, which was taken from the panel discussion An Investment in Adult Education Is An Investment Children’s School Success.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_FyoO2MKQU

To hold the council to the principles of their resolution, a coalition of adult learners and adult education advocates is heading to the city council to ask that they support adult literacy and training programs in the city budget. If you want to do something about illiteracy in the District of Columbia, you can make a start by attending this event: