Hundreds of Organizations Representing Millions of Teachers, Parents, and Children Join in Support

Washington, DC – The National Council of La Raza (NCLR), the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the U.S., and other child advocates today sent members of Congress a letter signed by more than 600 organizations asking them to restore federal funding for the William F. Goodling Even Start Family Literacy Program. The new federal budget submitted this week by President Bush includes no federal funding for Even Start and will likely eliminate this program – which seeks to improve the literacy skills of the lowest-income families in the U.S. – unless Congress intervenes.

“Even Start has had tremendous success assisting immigrant parents in learning English, helping their children thrive in school, and integrating into their communities. Members should know that community groups in their home states strongly favor restoring funds to the Even Start Family Literacy Program. Congress should not slam the door on these families,” said Janet Murguía, NCLR President and CEO.

Even Start is the only U.S. Department of Education literacy program that serves infants and toddlers and their low-income families, providing them with learning skills that lead to reading proficiency. Local Even Start evaluations have shown dramatic improvements in literacy, employment rates, and income gains, particularly among limited-English-proficient families who represent a large segment of the population served by the program. Nearly half (46%) of Even Start families nationwide are Latino.

The letter urging Congress to restore funding for Even Start was signed by organizations representing millions of teachers, parents, and children at the national, state, and local levels. Among them are the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the National Congress of American Indians, and the National Literacy Coalition.

To view the letter sent to Congress and the list of organizations that signed it, please visit www.nclr.org. For more information on NCLR or the William F. Goodling Even Start Family Literacy Program, please contact Miriam Calderón at (202) 785-1670 or at mcalderon@nclr.org.

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