NYCCAL is kicking off New York State advocacy for FY 2023 (April 1, 2022-March 31, 2023) with our annual State Advocacy Day on Monday,  February 28. 

Join State Advocacy Day by signing up for virtual meetings with elected officials and joining us on a social media push.

OUR MESSAGE:

• Students in adult education programs have been hit hard by the pandemic: many lost loved ones, jobs and incomes; others have continued sustaining our city as essential workers and parents; and many have been excluded from COVID-19 relief. 
• Since adult literacy providers shifted their classes online last year to protect the health of their community members, these programs continue to be a lifeline for students whose lives and communities have been upended by the pandemic and who need support as the city recovers. 
• NYCCAL thanks the Governor for including $7.8 million in the Executive budget to keep programs whole but more money must be invested in Adult Literacy Education (ALE) programs. 

OUR ASK: 
Invest an additional $15.6 million in FY23 to support the ALE Stabilization and Enhancement Fund to begin to stabilize and enhance ALE programs by increasing the rate per student, allowing providers to better serve the over 5,600 New Yorkers enrolled. This fund would supplement ALE contracts and increase investment in per-student funding in Adult Literacy Education. It will lead to strategic investments in resources, services, and supports, and will lead to greater outcomes and a wider range of impacts for adult literacy students, their families, and their communities. 

JOIN US:
To attend Zoom meetings, all participants (individuals and groups) must fill out the RSVP form and provide contact information by February 22. If you have program participants who want to join our legislative meetings, we welcome them to join us. Simply include their information in this form before February 22.

Meetings may be as short as 15 minutes (they will be scheduled for 30 minutes), and it is likely that not everyone will get to speak beyond introductions. We also anticipate fewer meetings per organization than previous in-person years. 

Lastly, we ask anyone who is interested in participating to keep your schedule flexible the week of Feb 28 and be prepared for last-minute scheduling changes. 

RSVP by 2/22 here for meetings.  Join us on Twitter and Instagram on February 28 by posting why adult education is important to you.  See our hashtags, sample messages, prompts, lists of elected officials, and more in our NYCCAL State Social Media Toolkit.
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​RESOURCES:
NYCCAL State Social Media Toolkit
NYCCAL FY23 State Advocacy One-Pager
State Advocacy Day #LiteracyLiftsNY Image

It's that time of year again to join together for a #LiteracyLiftsNY Day in Albany on Monday, March 4th!   We know the beginning of the year is hectic but our decision makers need to hear from YOU and your students!  Each year we talk to many elected officials who understand that Adult Literacy is underfunded and the difficulties this causes our community and we need to keep making sure they hear our message! Assembly-member Ron Kim is co-hosting the day with us and will join us and other invited elected officials for a Rally so join us to make sure the other legislators hear our message!  Throughout the day we will also meet with legislators about the NYCCAL priorities and make sure they see our faces and understand #LiteracyLifts! 
   
We will be sending out more information in the coming weeks but we wanted to make sure everyone put the date on the calendar so we can maximize participation from programs.  It may be too early to let us know the exact number of students and staff that may be able to attend from your program but if you can ballpark, that would be great.  If you plan to attend with students please contact Ariel Savransky savranskya@UJAFEDNY.ORG and she will tell you the next steps.

​If you cannot travel to Albany you can still join in our social media campaign on March 4.  Here is a link to how to join:  bit.ly/NYCCALSoMeState

We anticipate that we will have a bus as we did last year but we are exploring alternative options (smaller vans leaving from different areas of the city) depending on which programs participate. We will update you all as the timing gets closer. 
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Thank you and here’s to getting the $15.3 million this year! 

On June 14, the City Council voted to adopt the City’s FY2019 budget, which includes $12m for adult literacy. $8 million will be on the administration’s side, and $4 million will come from the Council.  The City Council has actually already made its decisions on the $4m (see document pages 13-14). 

It is our understanding that the Administration’s portion is not baselined, but will be targeted to DYCD literacy programs. Note there is no written confirmation of this, and so we will be in touch with DYCD & the Mayor’s Office to encourage the full amount of resources be devoted to that purpose. 

Thank you for all your hard work and thank you to all the City Council Members who showed us so much support: