By Abel McDonnell
August 10, 2009

The Right to Literacy Convention was held June 13 as part of the National Community Literacy Conference in Buffalo (NY). The goal of the convention was to create the nation’s first Declaration to the Right to Literacy. Delegates included leaders from all sectors of the literacy field from early childhood to senior literacy experts and included professionals from financial, health, workforce, and family literacy. There was even a Buffalo delegation that included a number of local children who were active in the discussions.

Literacy leaders modeled the Right to Literacy Convention on the Seneca Falls Convention, the famous women’s rights convention in the summer of 1848. The result of the recent meeting in Buffalo was the Declaration to the Right to Literacy, which proclaims that all Americans have a right to literacy and calls on communities and leaders in all sectors to work together to expand literacy in the United States.

The Declaration supports five pillars of literacy: Building the Community, Strengthening the Family, Ensuring People’s Self-Determination, Improving the Workforce, and Transforming the Literacy System. According to Literacy Powerline, the organization that organized the event, “The need [for the Declaration] was clear; tens of millions of adults and children do not have the skills needed to succeed in life. Literacy is the number one tool to change that plight. The right to literacy must be a national priority.”

Literacy Powerline hopes to gain signatures from public figures and leaders as it sends the Declaration “on the road” from Texas to Arkansas this summer and onto New York and Indiana. So far, only one mayor has signed the Declaration, San Antonio Mayor Julain Castro.

“I didn’t sign the declaration to be the first mayor to do so. I signed it because I believe the destiny of every city is tied to the education of its workforce,” Castro explained. He also emphasized the connection between literacy and a strong economy. “As mayor of San Antonio, I see the connection between an educated populace, a strong workforce and the city’s ability to attract future economic development,” he said. Organizers hope the document will gain more support as it moves across the United States.

Literacy Powerline is “working with a network of literacy coalitions and service providers who are engaging their mayors in each community,” according to founder Margaret Doughty. Doughty urged every mayor to sign the Declaration. “At this moment, our major effort is to encourage every city to include basic education, workforce literacy and vocational English as a Second Language in all appropriate applications for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding. These are all eligible activities but many cities are not focusing on the needs of job seekers and incumbent workers who read below an eight grade reading level,” she said.

Doughty called on cities to pay extra attention to citizens reading below an 8th grade level and emphasized that more than 90 million people in the US have limited literacy skills, a fact that, if not properly addressed, will limit cities efforts to improve workforce performance and economic development. Cities interested in more information about the Declaration or opportunities for technical assistance to improve literacy should visit the Literacy Powerline website at www.literacypowerline.com.