Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard (CA-34) joined U.S. Senators Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Ken Salazar (D-CO) and Congressmen Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ) and Rubén Hinojosa (D-TX) and Janet Murguía, President and CEO of the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), in advocating for continued federal funding for the Even Start Family Literacy Program.

The program, which helps the lowest-income parents of young children in the U.S. gain literacy, parenting, and job skills, is continually slated for elimination in the President’s budget requests. This fiscal year, the House-passed Labor-HHS-Education bill restores the Even Start program to its Fiscal Year 2006 level of $99 million, but the bill in the U.S. Senate proposes to eliminate it.

“Data collected by the California Department of Education on Even Start shows that English language learner children who received Even Start services in preschool, outperformed all students on the California Achievement test in reading,” said Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard who sits on the Appropriations subcommittee that funds the Even Start program. “Given Even Start’s proven record of success, any funding cut to this valuable program would be a disservice to thousands of current and future Even Start parents and children.”

Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard said much of the rationale for the President’s proposed elimination of Even Start is based on a flawed national evaluation conducted in 2003 by the U.S. Department of Education. “Rather than base budgetary decisions on one bad study, we need to listen to the voices of the thousands of Even Start families who attest to how the program has helped them turn their lives around,” Congresswoman Roybal-Allard said.

“Even Start has helped thousands of parents improve their job and English skills and get jobs that better support their families,” said Janet Murguía, President and CEO of the National Council of La Raza (NCLR). “The true marker of Even Start’s success should be the voices of the families and educators who have experienced firsthand how Even Start’s family literacy programs have turned their lives around.”

The Even Start Family Literacy Program provides states with grants to help the lowest-income parents of young children in the U.S. gain literacy, parenting, and job skills. The federal budget for the Even Start Family Literacy Program has been cut by 60 percent over the last three years. The funding cuts have forced many Even Start programs throughout the country to shut their doors, reducing educational opportunities to nearly half the number of families that were served in 2005. In California alone, nearly 50 Even Start programs have closed in the last two years, resulting in a loss in services to nearly 1,500 families. Eighty-four percent of the families served by the program in California are Latino and 80 percent do not speak English as their first language.

Even Start is also the only Department of Education program authorized under the No Child Left Behind Act that provides early literacy instruction to infants and toddlers. Research shows that this is a critical time period for building a reading foundation. The program also complements the goals set forth in the No Child Left Behind Act by giving parents the necessary tools to serve as their children’s first teachers and to get involved in their children’s education. Most Even Start families have annual incomes under $9,000, and nearly half (46%) of Even Start families nationwide are Hispanic.

Many states have consistently documented the program’s successes. State-level Even Start evaluations in California show that third-grade students – the vast majority of whom are English language learners (ELLs) – outperformed all students and other ELL students on the California Achievement Test in reading.

For more information about the Even Start Family Literacy Program, please visit the National Council of La Raza’s web site at www.nclr.org or call the Council’s Erika Beltran or Laura Anduze at (202) 785-1670.
 

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