Your guide to NYC's public proceedings.
PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Tim Sheehan, Chair of the Board of Center for Family Life in Sunset Park, on Adult Literacy Funding
6:17:18
·
3 min
Tim Sheehan, Chair of the Board of Center for Family Life in Sunset Park, urges the city council to maintain $16.5 million in discretionary funding for adult literacy initiatives. He emphasizes the economic and social benefits of ESOL programs, citing studies that show increased earnings for participants and positive returns for taxpayers.
- Highlights a success story of a student named Raul who progressed to community college through their ESOL program
- Argues that ESOL programs can be viewed as economic development initiatives with significant returns on investment
- Calls for stable, year-over-year funding through DYCD, but stresses the importance of continued council support in the interim
Tim Sheehan
6:17:18
Good afternoon, chair Aviles and chair Brennan, and distinguished members of the council committees.
6:17:25
I'm Tim Sheehan, and I'm chair of the board of the Center for Family Life in Sunset Park.
6:17:29
And I'm joining Julian here today, and others, to urge the city council to protect our immigrant community by maintaining the full 16,500,000.0 in discretionary funding for the adult literacy initiative, and the adult literacy pilot project.
6:17:45
Through discretionary funding, our ESO ESOL program offered at no cost, enables New Yorkers with limited English proficiency to begin their journey toward dignified working conditions, improved pay, increased access to public benefits, and a greater sense of belonging in our neighborhood.
6:18:05
A worthy investment, a recent report from the United Neighborhood Houses, highlights the positive impact, economic and social impacts of investment in our community members through adult literacy programs.
6:18:19
For example, the first randomized evaluation of a publicly funded ESOL course in Massachusetts, published in the journal Economic Policy, found that those who participated increased annual earnings by 56%.
6:18:36
In Sunset Park, this is seen through the story of Raul, a student at CFL with an unwavering commitment to learning, who day after day took risks, learned skills, and gained confidence in his abilities to communicate in English.
6:18:53
Through his own initiative, our classes propelled him to prepare for and enroll in community college, where he's now pursuing his passion for chemistry with the goal of becoming a pharmacist.
6:19:05
With the support of the city council in FY '20 '5, '70 '5 percent of our program participants showed improvement in their English proficiency, leading to outcome outcomes like rules that can support working families and strengthen our community.
6:19:22
But I want to say that these benefits go beyond the individual.
6:19:28
The economic and social benefits of ESOL programs redound to the city's economy and to the city's fiscal to the city's fisc.
6:19:40
I'm glad that Chairman Brennan is here to hear this.
6:19:44
So in the Massachusetts study, they found that the increase in earnings over time, this 56% of the individual's increase in earnings, over time paid for the cost of the program.
6:19:59
And actually generated a 6% return to tax payers.
6:20:03
An earlier study called Eager for English, a report that was prepared by a firm Appleseed for the New York immigration coalition in 02/2004, showed that increasing the supply of ESO ESOL classes in New York City would more than pay for itself.
6:20:20
By increasing the skill level of program participants, thereby their total economic impact, it would provide a net increase to New York City and New York state taxes.
6:20:32
So these programs, beyond their social benefits, can be looked on as economic development programs.
6:20:38
And probably have a bigger bang for the buck than any other economic development program you might consider.
6:20:44
So ideally our ESOL program would be supported by a robust baseline budget managed by DYCD with stable year over year funding.
6:20:59
However, until DYCD revises its policies, it is crucial that the New York City Council continues its support to ensure that adult learners continue to have access to the pathways they need to thrive.
6:21:12
Thank you very much for your consideration.