Washington Heights and Inwood Adult Education Lose Out On State Funding

Although most residents speak a language other than English at home, neighborhood organizations have been forced to cut back on English classes.

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By Annie Wu

For Ivonne Peña, not knowing the English language meant she couldn’t communicate to anyone in New York who didn’t speak Spanish.

“I wanted to ask for directions in the bus, but I couldn’t come up with the questions,” Peña said in Spanish, using an interpreter.

For recent immigrants such as Peña, who’s 43, language remains the biggest barrier to adjusting to life in America. But after taking English classes at the Northern Manhattan Improvement Corporation, a nonprofit in Washington Heights, she was able to read street signs, and grew more confident in speaking English.

Angela Manon-Gonzalez, who, like Peña, is 43 and from the Dominican Republic, attended classes there while working at a perfume plant in New Jersey, hoping to eventually be fluent enough in English to find a better job. But when Northern Manhattan Improvement Corporation lost its state funding this summer, Manon-Gonzalez and Peña were among the many whose language classes were cut off.

“I can’t practice anymore, and I feel like I’m rolling back to the beginning again,” Manon-Gonzalez said in Spanish, through an interpreter.

Despite a large population of  Washington Heights and Inwood adults who need English instruction and basic education, recent grants from the state Education Department excluded adult education programs in the two neighborhoods. The Corporation, a major provider of local adult education, lost the $1 million in funding it once received, representing more than 70 percent of the group’s $1.4 million budget for adult education.

More than 150,000 people, about 77 percent of Washington Heights and Inwood residents, speak a language other than English at home, according to statistics from the Department of City Planning. And close to a third of those 25 and over who live in the two neighborhoods lack a high school diploma or its equivalent, census data shows.

Ivonne Peña, 43, was unable to continue taking English classes at Northern Manhattan Improvement Corporation after the organization lost $1 million in state funding. (Photo by Annie Wu)

Ivonne Peña couldn’t continue English classes after Northern Manhattan Improvement Corporation lost $1 million in state funding. (Photo by Annie Wu)

The state program in question, the Workforce Investment Act Title II and Welfare Education Program, funds adult education and literacy services across the state for the next five years. It announced grants in late May and disbursed funds on July 1.

Most New York City recipients were adult education programs operating in public libraries and city universities. In northern Manhattan, Columbia University and a handful of nonprofits received funding: Riverside Language Program, Harlem Center for Education, the Fortune Society and YMCA Harlem. But further uptown, no group north of City College at 137th Street received any funding.

“As a nonprofit, we are accustomed to the ebbs and flows of funding,” said Michael Perrone, director of adult education at Northern Manhattan Improvement Corporation. “But this is unprecedented in terms of the amount of funds that were lost.”

The organization offers free classes in ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages), GED (General Educational Development), citizenship and computer literacy, which draw about 1,200 northern Manhattan and Bronx residents annually, said Perrone.

Now, only about 150 will be able to continue taking the classes, reduced from 33 to six. The nonprofit also had to cut its full-time program staff from 12 to three, and part-time staff from 18 to four.

Despite receiving high marks of 3.95 out of 4.0 on the state education department’s report card for fiscal year 2012, the organization’s adult education program did not qualify for funding, based on an evaluation rubric that scored the groups’ proposals and included the programs’ goals, staff development and use of technology.

The state education department did not respond to requests for comment.

Students of Northern Manhattan Improvement Corporation's adult education classes at a rally in June to protest the state's funding cuts. (Photo by Northern Manhattan Improvement Corporation)

Students of Northern Manhattan Improvement Corporation’s adult education classes at a rally in June to protest the state’s funding cuts. (Photo by Northern Manhattan Improvement Corporation)

Some former Northern Manhattan Improvement Corporation students were reluctant to look elsewhere for classes. Ines Belesaca, 31, an immigrant from Ecuador, liked the way the classes were taught and their location close to her home in Washington Heights.

“The teachers are very dynamic and they would go the extra mile to make sure students could understand what was being taught,” Belesaca said through an interpreter. She is hoping the classes can resume.

Many recent immigrants cannot afford to travel to more distant classes. “There are good programs elsewhere, but spending $5 a day on transportation does make it prohibitive,” Perrone said.

In this latest round of funding, the state gave the bulk of its support to government-regulated programs. Yet a recent study by the Lexington Institute found that community-based organizations, adult charter schools and other nonprofits are more successful at developing English proficiency among adults than government providers.

The study, published in July, found that only 40 percent of ESL (English as Second Language) learners in the U.S. improve their proficiency each year. It also noted that federal and state grant programs don’t collect enough data on the effectiveness of the adult education programs they fund.

“Largely administered and run by government agencies, adult ESL programs are generally not tailored to the needs of the specific learner and maintain few accountability metrics,” the report said. By contrast, community-based organizations and other nonprofits offered more flexible schedules and did better at meeting their language needs.

Stephanie Kaplan, communication director at the African Services Committee, a Harlem nonprofit, agreed with the study’s findings. Although the group lost adult education funding from the city in 2010, once its free English classes were no longer bound by the city program’s rules, the Committee could create a curriculum and evaluation system that has proven more successful.

“Normally we would be under a government regulated curriculum, or guidelines to use specific textbooks. Without that oversight, we can use what we think is appropriate for our clients,” Kaplan said.

Amy Kaiman, ESL coordinator at the African Services Committee, said the city funding required an oral test to demonstrate the students’ progress. However, most students already spoke English well. What they lacked was English literacy skills.

Despite the tests’ ineffectiveness, Kaiman said she’d rather receive city funding and offer more hours of classes for more students. “Even with strings attached, we’d much prefer the requirements than not having money,” she said.  The Committee’s English classes operate on a $15,000 annual budget.

Perrone noted that the state’s funding program has a similar test requirement, but community organizations can provide more comprehensive services to students. “They feel comfortable coming to us,” he said.

The organization hopes to procure funding from other sources, including foundations, the city’s Department of Youth and Community Development and the United Neighborhood Houses, an advocacy group.

Meanwhile, Northern Manhattan Improvement Corporation is appealing to the state to restore its funding. The group met with the state education commissioner’s staff in late August and is awaiting a final decision.

The organization wants the state to take prior performance into account when allocating funding, and to understand the great need for education in immigrant communities. He noted that Jackson Heights in Queens, one of the city’s largest immigrant neighborhoods, also received no state funding this time.  “The socio-economic impact is devastating on the community,” Perrone said.

(Featured photo by Northern Manhattan Improvement Corporation)

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