Legislative Update: Mandatory Board Training

Most nonprofits agree that training for its board members is advisable and beneficial. In New Hampshire, the Senate believes it should be mandatory. On January 18, the New Hampshire Senate passed a bill requiring at least one member of each nonprofit board (from organizations that receive a total of $250,000 of government funding) to attend four hours of third-party training every other year to include "instruction on fiduciary responsibilities, financial controls, relative responsibility and authority of boards of directors and corporation employees, ethics and federal and state laws and regulations governing nonprofit corporations," according to the New Hampshire Business Review.

The original bill proposed in 2011 required government-funded nonprofits to send all board members, as well as the CEO and CFO of their organization, to attend the training with the penalty for noncompliance to be ineligibility for public funding for two years or $5,000 fines for each instance. However, pushback from the state's nonprofits led to the amended version passed on January 18. In the current legislation, penalties for noncompliance have not yet been established.

Rick Cohen of the Nonprofit Quarterly offered a response to the issue in a recent article, asserting that "there are compelling reasons to oppose such legislation," such as "the burden on small nonprofits that don't have the resources to pay for third-party training programs" and questioning why nonprofit leadership was required to receive training, but the leadership of for-profits were not.

Senator Bob O'Dell, a sponsor of the New Hampshire bill, explained his reasoning for standing behind the legislation: "we are talking about organizations that are willing to take money from the state of New Hampshire. I think they ought to be willing to have one of their board members go for a couple of hours of training every couple of years." 

To read more on this debate, click on the links above to view the two articles. 

Last week, Congress restructured the Unemployment Insurance Benefit structure, but did not include the High School Diploma or GED equivalent requirement. Your voices were heard in Washington and the individuals struggling to find employment will not be penalized for their lack of education. According to CNN, Tennessee remains at 99 weeks of UI benefits. For more information on this story, please visit the National Coalition for Literacy's blog. 

Great job, everyone! Remember to Like us on Facebook and to Follow us on Twitter for up to date information on adult education in Tennessee.

Unemployment Insurance (UI) Benefits for individuals without a High School diploma or its equivalent are still at risk. According to the National Coalition for Literacy, some in the House "pushed for a condition that would deny unemployment insurance (UI) benefits to any worker who lacks a high school diploma or its equivalent and is not enrolled in classes to earn one…” This is yet another hit to those individuals struggling to keep the basic needs of their families met. Call or write your U.S. Representative and Senators today to voice your opinion by accessing the links through the NCL Advocacy website today! Time is of the essence. Legislators will make their decision on February 29.

Check out the numbers here: Adult Literacy Budget FY2012

For at least 93 million low-skilled adults in the United States, greater economy opportunity rests on their ability to access education that can help prepare them for college and career success. One of the most significant federal funding streams dedicated to this purpose is Title II (the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act) of the Workforce Investment Act. States receive these federal funds and then distribute grants to local providers to help low-skilled adults improve their basic skills and English language proficiency. Although federal adult education has traditionally been supplemented by sizeable state-level matching funds, a decline in federal and state funding for adult education has resulted in states serving only fraction of the students—2 million out of 93 million—who could benefit from services.

Read the Full Report

The National Coalition for Literacy Reports Live from the White House during SOTU

Submit Your Questions for Senior Administration Officials

during the State of the Union Address

This Tuesday, January 24, President Obama will present his 2012 State of the Union (SOTU) Address. The National Coalition for Literacy (NCL) will be at the White House tweeting live during the SOTU and participating in an interactive, open questions event with senior administration officials afterwards. We’ll have the chance to ask questions about the speech and share questions from our followers on Facebook and Twitter.

This is a unique opportunity for adult education advocates to engage with the White House and receive in-depth information on the policies and recommendations put forth by President Obama in his speech. The event will be live streamed widely online and later available for replay at whitehouse.gov.

Hashtags to follow: #adulted , #SOTU, #WHchat

9:00 pm EST: Go to www.whitehouse.gov/sotu to watch the online enhanced version of the speech. According to the White House, you’ll be able to see charts, stats, and data that helped inform President Obama’s policy decisions as he delivers his speech to the nation. Immediately after follows the live interactive panel with senior advisors.

Here are two ways to send your questions to NCL at the tweet-up and create a buzz about adult education online:

Via Twitter: Follow @NCLAdvocacy. Tweet your question and be sure to mention @NCLAdvocacy in your tweet. For example:

@NCLAdvocacy How will you help adults who are not college or job ready acquire the skills they need to be contributors to the economy? #SOTU

Via Facebook: Like NCL on Facebook. Post your question to NCL’s Facebook wall.

Tweeting live and in-person for NCL will be Jackie Taylor, NCL Board Member and Advocacy Chair, who will be in the South Court Auditorium at the White House to watch the SOTU and attend the panel discussion of White House officials. Thanks to Southwest Airlines, NCL’s official airline sponsor, for helping to make this opportunity possible.

Let’s hear you make a buzz about adult education and family literacy online during SOTU. Please share this email with those who you think may be interested. See you Tuesday night!

NCL’s Advocacy Team

Ernest Lee Hollaway, III -Age 69 of Ashland City passed away on Friday, December 23, 2011. He was a graduate of Ouachita Baptist University and the University of Missouri with a varied and colorful career as a religious journalist. In 1968, he was employed by the SBC Brotherhood Commission in Memphis, Tenn., as an assistant editor of Ambassador Life. In the spring of 1970, he was named as the first editor of the new Crusader magazine for boys 6-11, a position he held until 1977. In 1977 he moved to Nashville to become the first Director of Communications for the Southern Baptist Seminary Extension Department. Under his own imprint EditWorks he began copyediting and proofreading books for various religious publishers, which led to his third "career," as religious reference editor at Thomas Nelson Publishers. During his 7.5 years there he took more than 90 books from original manuscript to final production. Since taking early retirement about 5 years ago, he "kept his hand in" by working on an average of 20 books per year.  

He is preceded in death by his mother, Ida Nelle Hollaway. He is survived by his father, Ernest L. Hollaway, II; wife of 26 years, Sharon Lee Hollaway; daughters, Lori (Logan) Carter of NC and Lynn (Jonathan] Sanders; step-son, John-Paul (Jeannie) Wood; brothers, Mark (Lynn] Hollaway, Bill Hollaway and Dawn Seidenschwarz; and Stephen (Becca) Hollaway of RI; sister, Becca (Bill] Killebrew; and grandchildren, Charlotte Carter, Ava Wood, and Carson Wood.  

Mr. Hollaway was the 2nd president of the Tennessee Literacy Coalition in 1983.