SENATE MEMORIAL 119

52nd legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2015

INTRODUCED BY

Jacob R. Candelaria

A MEMORIAL

DECLARING MARCH 4, 2015 "ADULT EDUCATION AND LITERACY DAY" IN THE SENATE.

     WHEREAS, in a future that is anticipated to be increasingly dependent on technology, New Mexico will need a highly literate population; and

     WHEREAS, more than forty percent of the adults in New Mexico have a literacy problem that severely impacts their lives and families, their ability to work productively and their full participation as residents of the state; and

     WHEREAS, New Mexico's community colleges and universities and its volunteer and community-based organizations have provided basic skills and literacy services to more than sixteen thousand seven hundred adults during the fiscal year 2013-2014, including providing over one million two hundred seventy thousand hours of instruction; and

     WHEREAS, one thousand eight hundred twenty-two individuals received their general educational development certificate or high school equivalency credential, more than eight hundred individuals enrolled in post-secondary education or training and four thousand three hundred forty-one individuals entered or retained employment in school year 2013-2014; and

     WHEREAS, the higher education department, the New Mexico coalition for literacy and numerous adult basic education programs and community-based and nonprofit literacy organizations are jointly committed to eradicating illiteracy in the state; and

     WHEREAS, without this array of adult basic education and literacy programs, adult New Mexicans would find it difficult to access the services and benefits to which they are entitled;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that March 4, 2015 be designated "Adult Education and Literacy Day" in the senate; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the secretary of higher education and the executive director of the New Mexico coalition for literacy.

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