By Joan Crigger
February 2, 2009

The Women Mayors' Caucus convened at the opening of the 77th Winter Meeting in Washington (DC) to address issues of youth development and adult literacy. The Women Mayors, during their meeting last June in Miami, decided that both of these issues were of utmost importance to them and to their cities.

Bowling Green (KY) Mayor Elaine Walker, Chair of Women Mayors, opened the meeting. Following self-introductions of the mayors, Walker introduced speakers Linda Harris, Director for Youth Policy at the Center for Law and Social Policy, and Rachel Glass, Executive Director of the Literacy Council of Montgomery County (MD).

Harris opened her remarks by talking about the level of investment necessary to address the issues of at-risk youth and high school dropouts. She said that leadership is essential and that we must make this investment community by community. Harris said that we are "…producing more high school dropouts than college graduates." However, she stated that the tendency to reform our high schools won't help those who have already fallen through the cracks, nor help young people reentering their communities from the Juvenile Justice system.

Harris went on to say that mayors play a critical role in addressing this issue because mayors can create a forum where action can happen and can leverage the business community because business cannot afford to lose a part of their future workforce.

Harris then stated that there is a body of knowledge of "what works" including a caring adult to support each young person and advocate for him or her as well as rethinking education to integrate education with occupational training and career pathways. "We must not allow young people to fall out of the system," Harris stated. She then commented on the deliberations going on in Washington right now to increase CDBG, youth programs in WIA, infrastructure and economic recovery. Harris ended her comments by saying, "We need to make sure that at-risk young people are pulled along with the economic recovery and not left behind."

According to Glass, "Strong families create vibrant communities and without strong community literacy, many are left behind." She also said that most jobs today are knowledge-based and often require reading sophisticated manuals. Glass then stated that many communities are behind in producing a productive workforce because 60 percent of people have no associate degree or higher and 14 percent of the populations lack basic literacy skills. For example, one in five adults cannot sign basic family documents, they can't add up bank accounts, and 46 percent cannot read medical information.

Glass said that there are three things the Montgomery Coalition for Literacy used to increase community literacy: collaboration; cooperation; and capacity. Collaboration includes supporting community organizations through grants, tracking data on a system-wide level and building community-wide partnerships that make literacy a priority. The Coalition also created a scorecard on literacy. "Literacy is the key to a way out of poverty, creating a healthy community and a strong workforce," she added.

Glass said that cooperation involved the education system. She stated that many parents disconnect with their children getting a trade, but skill training is a viable career for many. Glass said it is necessary to make the education process more relevant to multiple career pathways and to infuse high school reform to provide multiple ways to learn.

Following the presentations, several mayors related successful activities in their cities. Gastonia (NC) Mayor Jennifer Stultz said that her Youth Council "kids" wanted to focus on the dropout rate and surveyed 9th and 10th graders about staying in school. They then engaged students to work with their peers to stay in school.

Asheville (NC) Mayor Terry Bellamy looked at middle and high schools to see what was missing that would cause young people to drop out of school and found that kids are doing things very differently than we used to do. Asheville has since created internships with the business community and also, working with high-risk populations, encouraging staff to help them write plays on real life issues. Bellamy said this has caused many young people to go into college theatre.

In addition, Alhambra (CA) Mayor Barbara Messina, Cambridge (MA) Mayor Denise Simmons, and San Marcos (TX) Mayor Susan Narvaiz commented on successes in their cities.

Following the presentations, Walker announced that her term as Chair of the Women Mayors' Caucus concludes in June. She will be appointing a Nominating Committee to accept nominations for Chair and Vice Chair of the Caucus. A letter announcing the Nominating Committee will be forthcoming.