In celebration of the 35th anniversary of the Oakland Literacy Council, we have lined up an amazing guest speaker for our biggest fundraising event of the year, the Ex Libris dinner. On Thursday, November 14, 2019, Pulitzer Prize-winning author and Washington Post editor David Marannis will share a riveting story from his childhood in Detroit. The story about how his father was swept up in the anti-Communist fear that swept the country in the 1950s is the subject of Marannis’s newest book, A Good American Family: The Red Scare and My Father. Please save the date for this wonderful evening in which we will hear Marannis’s story as well as honor the many stories of our students, tutors, and long-time advocates who together weave a powerful tapestry of our collective work in Oakland County. And consider becoming a sponsor of this wonderful fundraiser. More information on sponsorship can be found here.

This spring, seven conversation groups for our English language learners are underway throughout Oakland County. Currently, groups meet in Troy, West Bloomfield, Bloomfield Hills, and Rochester Hills. Some meet during the day; some in the evening.

Conversation groups are organized with students whose listening and speaking ability is about the same level. This approach differs from other conversation groups in the area that are open to everyone. Our approach ensures all students can participate equally.

Conversation groups give English language learners extra practice listening and speaking a new language.

Samantha Most is facilitating her second, six-week conversation group at the West Bloomfield Township Public Library on Thursday evenings. The group attracts English language learners from Poland, Ukraine, China, Japan, South Korea, and Syria.

“I’ve noticed that the students love learning about other cultures,” says Samantha, who also tutors a student one-on-one through Oakland Literacy Council. Recently, she asked her conversation group how the arrival of spring is recognized in students’ home countries. Some countries had special celebrations.

At each conversation group, Samantha also introduces a few vocabulary words, and the students practice using the words in conversation.
The intention behind the conversation groups is to give students another venue for practicing their listening and speaking skills beyond their individual tutoring sessions. The more practice they get, the faster they will progress in their studies.

The Trump Administration’s proposed fiscal year 2020 budget calls for a 24 percent cut to Title II Adult Education State Grants, from which Oakland Literacy Council receives funding.

Low literacy is as prevalent now as 20 years ago, yet there are fewer public resources dedicated to solving the problem. In the state of Michigan, a cut at the federal level would be a continuation of a trend, as support for adult education has fallen 87 percent from the 1995-96 school year.

The funding decline has hit already under-served cities particularly hard. The latest casualty is Hazel Park, a city where the poverty rate hovers near 30% and two-thirds of the high-school students drop out before graduation. Budget shortfalls forced Hazel Park to shutter its adult education program in July 2018.

Some programs have closed as well, while others remain operational but with reduced service. Walled Lake, for instance, could not afford repairs to its outdated community education center, so adult ed programming was forced to share space with a middle school, which led to the elimination of daytime programming for adult ed, triggering a decline in enrollment. Evening programming is difficult for many low-literate adults who lack evening child care. Pontiac, another impoverished community, almost closed last summer, too, and now operates on a slim staff and emergency funding.

Currently, no adult education programming currently exists for adults in high-need Oakland County communities of Madison Heights, Oak Park, Hazel Park, or Southfield. While surrounding adult ed classes will enroll adults whose communities lack their own programming, we know that this population often lacks transportation to access services beyond their neighborhood borders.

While the Trump Administration’s proposed budget has been received with criticism and may not pass, it is true that adults in Michigan have increasingly limited access to adult education programming that could lift their literacy levels. The bottom line: it’s even more important today that Oakland Literacy Council is here to bridge the gap.