October ___, 2025

The Honorable Shelley Moore Capito

Chair

Senate Appropriations Committee

Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human

Services, Education, and Related Agencies

The Honorable Tammy Baldwin

Ranking Member

Senate Appropriations Committee

Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human

Services, Education, and Related Agencies

Dear Chair Capito and Ranking Member Baldwin:

On behalf of the undersigned organizations, we write to urge you to protect and increase funding for the Adult Education State Grant program in the Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26) Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations bill and ensure funding is allocated for the Integrated English Literacy and Civics Education (IELCE) program as per the required reservation under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA).

Adult education provides literacy, numeracy, digital and information literacy, English language skills, work readiness, soft skills, high school equivalency, and numerous wraparound services. These programs help Americans, a majority of whom face the greatest barriers to employment and life, access educational resources, integrate into their community, and participate in our economy. Supporting adult education should be a top priority to ensure a healthy resilient economy that lifts up all communities and provides employers with a pool of skilled workers.

Evidence suggests that the need for adult education has grown more acute in recent years. With recent findings by the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) indicating that the percent of U.S. adults with low performance in literacy increased from 19 to 28 percent and numeracy from 29 to 34 percent between 2017 and 2023,[1] it is no surprise that employers are finding it difficult to fill vacancies for in-demand jobs.[2] At current funding levels, adult education programs, many of which have waiting lists, can only reach approximately 1.1 million people.[3] If Federal funding for adult education is eliminated, as the President’s FY26 budget proposes, these adults currently being served and those who need these services would remain sidelined from the economy as they struggle to find family-sustaining job opportunities, and employers would continue to face workforce shortages.

Adult education programs, if properly resourced and supported, provide a pathway for Americans to master the skills needed to thrive in the workforce and build better futures for themselves, their families, their employers, their communities, and our nation. We urge you to protect and increase funding for the Adult Education State Grant program for FY26 and ensure IELCE funding is allocated. Thank you for your consideration of this important request.

Sincerely,