HOUSE MEMORIAL 47

48th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2008

INTRODUCED BY

Nick L. Salazar

A MEMORIAL

DECLARING FEBRUARY 1, 2008 "ADULT BASIC EDUCATION AND LITERACY DAY" AT THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

     WHEREAS, high levels of adult literacy and a prosperous future go hand in hand; and

     WHEREAS, more than forty percent of New Mexico's adults have literacy issues that severely affect their lives and those of their families, their ability to work productively and their full participation as citizens and residents of the state; and

     WHEREAS, New Mexico's community colleges, universities and volunteer and community-based organizations provided more than one million three hundred thousand instructional hours of basic skills and literacy services to more than thirty thousand adults during the 2006-2007 program year, with the result that one thousand eight hundred forty adult education students received their GEDs, nine hundred sixty enrolled in post-secondary education or training, eight hundred forty-two entered employment and one thousand one hundred sixty-seven retained employment; and

     WHEREAS, the higher education department, the New Mexico adult education association, New Mexico's adult basic education programs and New Mexico's community-based and nonprofit literacy organizations are jointly committed to eradicating illiteracy in our state; and

     WHEREAS, without this adult basic education and literacy system, adult New Mexicans would not be able to access the services and benefits of citizenship that are due them;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that February 1, 2008 be declared "Adult Basic Education and Literacy Day" at the house of representatives.

- 2 -