S-2403               _______________________________________________

                                         SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL NO. 3517

                        _______________________________________________

State of Washington                              49th Legislature                              1985 Regular Session

By Senate Committee on Education (originally sponsored by Senators Bauer, Gaspard, Benitz, Moore, Bender, Rinehart and Johnson; by Temporary Committee on Educational Policies request)

Read first time 3/8/85.

AN ACT Relating to adult educational skills; adding a new section to chapter 28A.03 RCW; and creating a new section.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.  A new section is added to chapter 28A.03 RCW to read as follows:

          (1) The superintendent of public instruction shall, in cooperation with the director of the state board for community college education, establish a state-wide adult literacy program to provide free educational opportunities by which residents in the state eighteen years of age or older may acquire basic educational skills.  The superintendent of public instruction shall coordinate the state literacy program with programs authorized under RCW 28B.50.250 and 28A.58.246 through 28A.58.248 to supplement but not displace existing services.  Persons with reading and writing abilities at or below an eighth grade level shall be eligible to participate in the state literacy program, but persons with reading and writing abilities at or below the fourth grade level shall be given first preference in receiving services.

          (2) In establishing the state literacy program, the superintendent of public instruction shall:

          (a) Give priority to local organizations, volunteers, and community agencies to provide testing and teaching services under the adult literacy program:  However, the community colleges and vocational-technical institutes shall also be considered as providers of such services;

          (b) Establish progress and achievement standards to measure the performance of participants during and after completion of the program; and

          (c) Establish as program enrollment goals ten percent of the eligible individuals by September 1, 1986, increasing the enrollment by a minimum of two percent each year with the goal of achieving enrollment of thirty percent of the eligible population by 1995.

          (3) The superintendent of public instruction shall establish a state advisory literacy coalition to facilitate implementation and development of the state literacy program.  The coalition shall provide a formal connection among the programs serving adults needing to develop reading and writing skills and shall:

          (a) Publicize and promote adult literacy programs throughout the state to encourage participation by students and volunteers;

          (b) Conduct research to identify the persons needing services and to estimate the extent of the problem throughout the state;

          (c) Promote communication and the exchange of ideas among service providers; and

          (d) Promote and facilitate contributions of time, space, funds, and other support by business and industry for employees lacking the necessary reading and writing skills and for employees to become volunteers in the literacy program.

          (4) The coalition shall be representative of business, labor, the legislature, the department of corrections, the department of social and health services, the state board for community college education, the office of the superintendent of public instruction, the state library, public libraries, persons eligible to or participating in the program, volunteer organizations, and other community organizations professionally involved in promoting literacy in the state.  The representatives of the state agencies shall be designated by the heads of their respective agencies.  The other members of the coalition shall be selected by the superintendent of public instruction.  The members of the coalition shall be reimbursed for travel expenses as provided in RCW 43.03.050 and 43.03.060.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2.     Implementation of this act is subject to funds being appropriated or available for such purpose or purposes.