Adult Literacy Education (ALE) funding is used to provide high school equivalency (HSE)
preparation and English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) classes to New Yorkers across the State. It is designed to help New Yorkers gain the literacy skills and credentials they need to successfully integrate into their communities and increase their employment and earnings potential.

Unfortunately, it is slated for a $1.5 million reduction in the Governor’s Executive budget, and Adult Literacy advocates are calling on state elected officials to oppose this drastic cut. Advocates and supporters are encouraged to ask their Assemblymember to sign onto a letter of support created by Assemblymembers Ron Kim and Patricia Fahy. This can very easily be done by calling your Assemblymember's office and saying this to whomever answers the phone: "I am calling to support Adult Literacy because the Governor has proposed a $1.5 million cut in this year's budget. Will Assemblymember________ (the name of the Assemblymember that you called) please sign the letter that was written by Assemblymembers Kim and Fahy that opposes this cut? Thank you very much." If you do not know who your Assemblymember is, go to this website:

About ALE:

ALE helps roughly 7,000 New Yorkers every year on their journey to self-improvement. In
today's economy, New Yorkers cannot hope to compete for well-paying jobs with which they
can support their families if they only have limited English proficiency or do not hold a high
school diploma. With New York State currently being home to nearly 3.5 million adults without
a high school diploma, English proficiency, or both, only 3% of those in need of language
development skills are able to participate in State-funded classes. And unfortunately, recent
changes in federal policies made adult literacy classes much more difficult to access.