Funding Restorations Urged for ESOL and Adult Literacy

Monday, 08 June 2009 21:35

Standing together on the steps of City Hall, students, clients, providers, and advocates for immigrant services called on the Mayor and City Council yesterday to restore funding for English and adult literacy classes and affordable legal and citizenship services. These services enable millions of immigrant New Yorkers to improve their English skills, find and maintain employment, defend their legal rights, and work towards citizenship.

More than one in three New York City residents is foreign-born and over 1.2 million adult New Yorkers have inadequate English skills, say advocates. Yet despite the vast need for English classes, only 62,000 spaces are available in free or low-cost government-funded ESOL/adult literacy classes, leaving over 95 percent of the need for these classes unmet.

Two key funding sources for community-based ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) classes and immigrant services are the Adult Literacy Services Initiative and the Immigrant Opportunities Initiative (IOI), neither of which are included in the Mayor’s FY 2010 proposed budget. Without this funding, the City’s ability to meet the needs of its large immigrant population will be severely curtailed.

The Immigrant Opportunities Initiative had already been cut by 55% last year, from $11.25 million to $5 million. Supporters of immigrant services urged the Mayor and City Council to restore $11.25 million for IOI (the fiscal year 2008 level) and $1.5 million for the Adult Literacy Services Initiative (the current year’s level).

“At this time of economic crisis, we must support immigrant New Yorkers who want to improve their English, become citizens, and use their skills to help this City recover from the recession. It is imperative that the Mayor and City Council restore the funding needed to preserve programs that support immigrants,” said Nancy Wackstein, Executive Director of United Neighborhood Houses.

“The English classes and legal services funded by the Immigrant Opportunities Initiative are more important than ever to the survival and success of our city’s immigrant communities,” added Ms. Chung-Wha Hong, Executive Director of The New York Immigration Coalition. “The IOI enables immigrant New Yorkers to improve their lives and contribute even more to the economy. Now is the time for the City to step up and truly make these critical investments in immigrant New Yorkers a priority.”

Steve Choi, Executive Director of YKASEC – Empowering the Korean American Community – addressed the need for immigrant legal services. “We are seeing many more community members coming through our doors who are being hit hard by this economic crisis,” he said. “These low-income immigrants need basic legal services to protect them from discrimination in the workplace and help them claim unpaid wages, yet the organizations providing these services are cutting back. It is crucial that the City not abandon its immigrant populations and their legal needs precisely when the need is greatest.”

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