URGENT! Date Change for Legislative Luncheon

The following is from the Kentucky Association of Adult and Continuing Education (KAACE):

Due to a legislative holiday, KAACE has rescheduled the upcoming Legislative Luncheon to February 20, 2008. 

Because of the General Assembly’s ongoing work on a 2008-10 budget, it’s extremely important that adult educators do two things: turn out in force for the luncheon and communicate our talking points.

Legislative Luncheon

• 11 a.m., Wednesday, February 20 (Please arrive by 10:45 a.m.); Capitol Annex Cafeteria
• Please bring one to two adult educators and one student from your program.  Lunch will be provided by KAACE. 
• RSVP: Louise Summers, louise.summers@montgomery.kyschools.us, (859) 497-8732 or (859) 274-3330 by February 15, 2008.
• KAACE has sent an invitation and reminder to your legislators; however, please personally contact your legislator and invite him/her to the luncheon.  Find your legislator’s contact information at www.lrc.ky.gov .

Talking Points

If you have only a few moments to convey the adult education message, below are the most important points to communicate.  Attached are other more extensive talking points that you can use with your legislators, partners, media and community.

• More than 786,000 Kentucky adults (26%) do not have a high school diploma or GED, ranking Kentucky 49^th nationally. Kentucky will never create the educated workforce we need without a strong effort for educating these adults who model the value of education to their children. 
• Kentucky Adult Education is at a crossroads.  We must have increased funding for more adults with higher academic skills, more GED graduates, more adults entering postsecondary education plus improved teacher quality – all of which support the Council on Postsecondary Education’s goals to raise educational attainment and the quality of life in Kentucky by 2020. 
• At this point in our progress, less funding threatens to lead to a 25 percent reduction in the number of adult education teachers, resulting in nearly 2,400 fewer GED graduates over a two-year period.  This loss impacts not only the adult education system and individual Kentuckians but our Commonwealth loses the higher salaries, state tax revenue and economic development opportunities that result from GED attainment.