►
From YouTube: Committee on Government Operations on October 25, 2021
Description
Docket #0600 - Ordinance to create a task force to address literacy rates in the City of Boston
A
Good
afternoon
everyone,
my
name,
is
city
councilor
lodge
michael
flaherty
vice
chair
of
the
community
on
government
operations.
It
is
monday
october
25th
2021,
and
we
are
here
today
in
a
virtual
hearing
on
docket
zero
six
zero,
an
ordinance
to
create
a
task
force
to
address
literacy
rates
in
the
city
of
boston.
A
This
was
sponsored
by
my
colleague
city
council,
juliet
mejia
and
referred
to
the
committee
on
april
28th
of
2021,
in
accordance
with
chapter
20
of
the
acts
of
2021,
modifying
certain
requirements
of
the
open
meeting
law
and
relieving
public
bodies
of
certain
requirements,
including
the
requirements
that
public
bodies
conduct
its
hearings
in
public
place
that
is
open
and
physically
accessible
to
the
public.
The
city
council
will
be
connecting
this
hearing
virtually
via
zoom
and
it
is
being
recorded.
A
This
enables
the
city
council
to
carry
out
its
responsibilities
while
adhering
to
the
public
health,
accommodations
and
ensuring
public
access
to
its
deliberations
through
an
adequate
and
alternative
means.
The
public
may
watch
this
hearing
via
live
stream
at
www.boston.gov,
backslash
city
dash,
hyphen
council
dash
tv
and
on
xfinity
8
rcn
82
verizon
1964
will
also
be
pre
rebroadcast
at
a
later
date.
Written
comments
may
be
sent
to
the
committee
email
at
dot
ccc.gov
at
boston.gov
and
will
be
made
part
of
the
public
record
and
available
to
all
city
councilors.
A
If
you
wish
to
provide
public
comments
and
have
not
signed
up
to
do
so,
please
email,
christine
o'donnell,
now
at
christine.odonno
o-d-o-n-n-e-l-l
at
boston.gov,
to
receive
the
link.
This
proposal
will
establish
a
task
force
on
literacy
rates
in
the
city
of
austin.
The
purpose
of
the
task
force
will
be
to
study
rates
of
illiteracy
across
the
city
of
austin,
to
develop
a
plan
to
help
students
and
children
who
are
not
able
to
read
or
write
to
access
city
services,
as
well
as
adults,
and
to
recommend
programs
and
policies
to
advance
literacy
in
adults
and
children.
A
We
also
have
administration
panel
after
the
administration
panelists.
We
also
have
a
second
panel,
and
on
this
panel
we
have
dr
gail
crump
swabi,
associate
professor
of
counseling
clinical
mental
health,
counseling
coordinator
springfield
college,
as
well
as
elizabeth
santiago,
founder
of
the
untold
narratives
in
lee
holler
english
for
new
bostonian
director
programs.
A
I
will
now
turn
it
over
to
my
colleague,
counselor
juliette
mejia,
for
opening
remarks
and
also
just
recognized
by
colleagues
in
order
of
their
arrival
council
of
kenzie
bark
council,
ed
flynn
and
council
liz
braden,
I'm
sure
other
colleagues
will
be
joining
and
when
they
do
I'll
make
sure
that
they're
recognized.
But
for
the
time
being,
the
chair
recognizes
the
lead
sponsor
my
colleague
juliette
mejia
good
afternoon.
Julia.
B
Good
afternoon,
councillor
flaherty
como,
esta
mi
amigito
muy
bien.
I
guess
is
what
you're
saying,
but
you
were
on
you,
but
yes,
thank
you
so
very
much
for
hosting.
I
just
also
want
to
make
note
that
we
have
also
added
edith
brazil
to
our
advocate
panel
and
she
is
joining
us
as
well
as
a
late
edition,
but
better
late
than
never
and
excited
to
know
that
she'll
be
joining
us
as
well.
B
So
thank
you
I
like,
and
I
also
would
like
to
thank
my
colleagues,
counselor
flynn,
breeden
and
bach,
for
always
showing
up
and
being
engaged
in
these
conversations.
So
thank
you
you
all
for
for
being
here.
I
just
want
to
take
a
quick
moment
to
explain
this
ordinance
of
what
this
ordinance
is
and
how
we
got
here
during
the
formation
of
our
ordinance
to
update
the
city's
language
and
communications
access
laws.
B
We
received
feedback
from
the
administration
that
the
city
was
presently
not
able
to
determine
what
the
best
type
of
programming
would
be
given
how
the
city
has
not
explored
this
kind
of
service
in
depth.
So
the
idea
came
about
to
create
a
task
force
on
literacy.
To
do
several
things
first,
it
will
be.
It
will
give
us
more
accurately
able
to
capture
data
on
literacy
rates
in
our
city,
both
from
for
from
adults
and
children.
B
B
Finally,
the
task
force
will
explore
ways
to
improve
literacy
rates
amongst
adults
and
children
in
order
to
make
progress
in
these
areas
and
the
ordinance
we
are
speaking
on
today
outlines
who
ought
to
be
on
this
task
force
and
what
their
responsibilities
are,
which
are
essentially
the
ones
we
listed
above.
The
questions
that
I
have
for
the
administration
and
to
the
advocates
here
are
going
to
focus
on
two
areas
who
ought
to
be
on
the
task
force
and
what
work
should
they
be
doing,
and
for
many
of
you
you
know.
B
I
always
talk
about
the
fact
that
we
we
have
a
lot
of
young
people
who
are
struggling
with
reading
and
writing
and,
unfortunately,
are
being
passed
from
grade
to
grade,
and
we
hope
that
this
can
help
address
the
school
to
prison
pipeline.
Many
of
our
kids
are
ending
up
in
dys,
and
then
they
become
adults
and
then
are
entering
the
prison
system
and
are
still
coming
out
and
unable
to
read
and
write.
B
And
I
see
this
as
an
opportunity
to
really
get
a
better
handle
as
to
what
this
looks
like
here
in
the
city
of
boston,
so
that
we
can
better
prepare
our
workforce
as
well
as
looking
into
how
we
can
help
support
students
in
our
boston,
public
schools.
So,
looking
forward
to
this
conversation
and
working
alongside
the
administration
and
the
advocates
to
get
us
to
a
place
where
we're
able
to
provide
the
services
to
everyone
who
needs
it
in
ways
that
they
best
understand.
Thank
you.
Councillor.
Flaherty,.
A
C
Thank
you
so
much
counselor,
flaherty
I'll,
be
very
brief,
because
I'm
excited
to
get
to
the
panel
just
thank
councillor
mejia
for
introducing
this
and
say
that
I
think
I
think
literacy
is
so
important
and
I
think
so
often
it's
this
invisible
barrier
for
a
lot
of
folks
in
our
society
and
actually
in
a
lot
of
interesting
ways.
The
internet
has
has
introduced
even
more
text
into
people's
lives
and,
and
that
can
be
that
could
be
great
and
it
can
unlock
whole
corners
of
the
world.
C
So
I
I
just
think
anything
we
can
do
as
a
city.
There
are
so
many.
This
came
up
in
our
bps
budget
conversations
last
year,
or
I
guess
earlier
this
year
as
just
a
core
issue
in
our
schools,
and
just
so
often
you
think
you
have
a
different
problem
and
the
problem
you
actually
have
as
a
literacy
problem
and
so
yeah.
Just
anything
we
can
do,
I'm
excited.
I
know
there
are
a
lot
of
partners.
C
D
Thank
you,
council
of
flaherty.
I
also
want
to
say
thank
you
to
council
mejia
for
the
important
work
she's
doing
on
this
issue,
and
I
would
just
like
to
highlight
the
the
importance
of
making
sure
that
we
provide
the
necessary
educational
and
training
literacy
assistance
to
everyone
in
the
city,
but
especially
for
our
immigrant
neighbors,
recently
arrived
bostonians
they're,
really
the
backbone.
Immigrants
are
really
the
backbone
of
our
city,
and
we
wanted
to
try
to
provide
them
with
as
much
services
and
support
as
we
possibly
can.
D
A
I
think
we
may
have
lost
liz
and
if
she
comes
back,
we
will
get
right
to
her.
So
now
with
that,
I'm
going
to
turn
right
over
to
the
first
panel,
and
I
also
know
that
we
have
after
leigh
haller.
We
do
have
an
additional
panelist
and
that's
edith
basil.
I'm
I'm
sorry
if
I'm
pronouncing
wrong,
but
either
will
be
joining
us
and
testifying
after
lee.
So
with
that
we're
gonna
start
with
the
administration
trin.
E
My
name
is
tren
nguyen
director
of
the
mayor's
office
of
workforce
development
and
office
of
financial
empowerment.
I'm
happy
to
be
joined
by
my
colleagues
from
the
city
as
well,
who
you
will
hear
more
about
their
work.
This
is
a
very
personal
issue
and
also
task
force
and
effort.
For
me,
as
many
of
you
know,
I
came
here
as
an
immigrant
refugee
from
saigon
lived
in
a
refugee
camp
and
was
sponsored
by
catholic
charities
in
the
midwest.
E
My
parents
came
here
as
dishwashers
for
30
years,
not
knowing
a
word
of
english
and
did
not
have
access
to
resources
to
make
it
work
and
so
learning.
From
my
personal
experience
and
theirs,
and
my
colleagues
and
everyone's
immigrant
experiences.
We
really
try
hard
to
build
pathways
and
provide
good
trusted
quality
services
for
the
residents
of
boston.
E
Literacy
is
essential
to
the
success
of
education,
career
and
economic
mobility,
especially
those
who
are
among
the
most
marginalized
residents
of
our
city.
As
some
of
you
may
know.
Since
1983
the
office
of
workforce
development,
formerly
known
as
jobs
and
community
services
jcs,
it
has
operated
the
adult
literacy
initiative
ali
to
provide
adult
education
services
to
the
residents
of
boston
in
need
of
such
services.
E
These
services
consist
of
adult
basic
education,
also
known
as
ape
basic
literacy
and
numeracy
for
native
english
speakers,
english
for
speakers
of
other
languages,
also
known
as
esl
for
non-native
english
speakers
and
high
school
credentials,
known
as
ged
and
hiset
in
preparation
for
both.
These
courses
also
may
include
digital
literacy,
work,
readiness,
specific
occupational
skills,
training
and
citizenship.
E
E
For
this
current
fiscal
year,
which
is
also
fy,
22
major
highlights
for
the
city's
ape
esol
program
include
after
the
state
senate
submitted
its
budget
to
the
conference
committee
and
prior
to
the
governor's
approval
of
this
final
state
budget.
The
total
amount
of
funding
designated
for
boston's
ap
esol
program
for
this
year
was
adjusted
from
9.4
million
to
9.7
million,
mainly
due
to
the
mayor,
the
city
in
our
office
and
colleagues
and
partners
advocacy
to
include
more
money
into
abe
and
esol.
E
The
other
effort
we're
doing
is
using
primary
metrics
to
determine
funding
allocations
by
programs
are
often
demonstrated
by
performance
in
the
administrative
responsiveness
and
capacity
to
meet
an
increased
service
level.
Therefore,
a
total
of
21
organization
administers
28,
distinct
programs.
16
of
them
are
esl,
and
12
of
them
are
adult
basic
education
throughout
the
city
of
boston.
Again,
this
is
on
our
ali
website.
E
These
programs
serve
approximately
three
thousand
boston
residents
annually.
A
summer
of
a
summary
of
the
programs,
including
funding
outlook
for
this
year,
is
available
upon
request.
In
addition
to
these
ongoing
efforts,
we
know
this
is
not
enough.
Due
to
covid
owd
is
currently
implementing
two
recent
initiatives.
The
first
is
to
support
a
community
of
practice
program
that
provides
funding,
builds
capacity
and
technical
assistance
to
esl
programs
that
offer
level
three
and
four
classes
with
bridge
programs
into
career
pathways,
workforce
development
training
program.
E
So
I'm
happy
to
speak
to
you
further
on
these
recent
developments
at
another
time.
While
these
resources
and
services
may
seem
a
lot,
many
needs
and
challenges
remain.
We
can
all
agree
that
we
need
to
do
much
more,
including
the
scaling
of
best
practice
models,
so
that
we
can
serve
more
boston
residents,
efficiently,
increasing
state
budgets
and
the
federal
line
items
to
get
more
money
into
esl
and
be
abe
classes.
E
We
need
to
reduce
additional
barriers
to
success
and
entry
to
into
these
programs,
as
we
know
that
housing
quality,
child
care,
food
access,
etc
are
interdisciplinary
issues
that
residents
face
as
barriers
to
getting
into
these
classes
and
finishing
them.
We
continue
to
advocate,
in
both
the
legislature
for
progressive
bills
and
money
to
support
adult
literacy
in
boston
and
throughout
the
state.
E
A
A
F
So
trin
spoke
broadly
about
the
services
available
in
boston.
I
would
like
to
share
a
little
bit
about
what
the
boston
public
schools
does
on
behalf
of
adults
in
the
city.
So
we
run
a
number
of
programs.
We
do
have
adult
basic
education
classes,
which
serves
students
with
a
grade
level,
equivalence
equivalency
of
four
through
grade
eight.
We
have
an
adult
diploma
pathway
program
which
allows
adults
are
in
a
high
school
diploma.
F
F
F
Our
capacity
at
bps
is
a
total
of
605
students.
We
have
45
seats
during
the
daytime.
We
have
two
programs,
a
daytime
program
and
an
evening
program
during
the
day,
we're
able
to
offer
45
students
whose
reading
level
is
grade
four
through
eight
and
then
in
the
evening
we're
able
to
accommodate
30
students
whose
reading
level
is
grades.
Four,
through
eight
for
students
who
are
at
the
high
school
skill
level,
we
are
able
to
serve
a
total
of
330
students
and
we're
able
to
serve
200
esau
students
across
our
two
programs.
F
F
F
Despite
these
successes,
our
students
face
many
challenges
and
our
students
who
are
reading
at
the
grade
level.
Four
through
eight,
are
students
who
have
the
largest
struggle
staying
in
school
and
persisting
with
the
programs.
As
trend
mentioned.
Some
of
the
challenges
that
our
students
face
are
transportation.
F
They
don't
have
the
money
to
take
the
bus
five
days
a
week.
It
limits
them
in
the
number
of
times
they
can
come
to
class.
They
have
technology
and
internet
access
struggles.
We
do
partner
with
tech
goes
home
and
many
of
our
students
were
able
to
receive
chromebooks,
but
once
at
home
they
don't
always
have
internet
access.
We
had
students
who
were
taking
classes
by
driving
to
the
public
library
and
parking
in
the
parking
lot
or
going
to
stores
with
free
wi-fi
in
order
to
take
our
online
classes
during
the
pandemic.
F
F
Many
of
our
students
have
inflexible
work
schedules,
and
so
they
are
unable
to
we're
unable
to
offer
classes
that
meet
their
exact
schedule.
So,
although
we
offer
classes
monday
through
friday,
nine
to
two
and
then
again,
tuesday
and
thursday,
5
to
9,
30
and
monday
and
wednesday
in
the
evening
as
well,
it's
hard
for
our
students
to
create
a
schedule
that
matches
with
their
work
schedule.
This
becomes
a
barrier
to
them
completing
the
program.
F
F
We
were
recently
able
to
hire
a
student
support
specialist
who
is
following
up
on
student
retention,
making
phone
calls
to
students
when
they're
absent,
helping
them
access
the
resources
they
need
to
persist
in
the
program.
We
also
have
two
part-time
guidance
counselors,
but
we
do
need
more
with
our
student
population.
It's
just
not
enough
for
our
students
to
be
able
to
meet
with
somebody
a
few
times
a
year
to
make
sure
they're
on
the
right
track,
and
we
do
have
one
academic
advisor
for
our
day
program.
F
In
order
to
get
all
of
this
work
done,
we
also
partner
with
local
programs
we
partner
with
umass
nutrition.
They
offer
nutrition
classes
for
our
esol
classes,
both
in
the
day
and
evening
program.
As
I
mentioned
earlier,
we
are
partnering
with
roxbury
community
college
and
bunker
hill
community
college
for
dual
enrollment.
We
work
closely
with
mass
higher
for
our
esl
level,
three
and
four
students
and
our
students
close
to
graduation
to
help
them
find
jobs
and
training
programs.
F
A
G
Thank
you
so
much
councilman
good
to
see
you
good
good
afternoon
great
seeing
you-
and
I
want
to
just
thank
you
and
all
of
our
counselors,
your
counselor
here,
counselor
bach
counselor
flynn
concert
burden
for
just
all
your
advocacy
and
support
on
this
issue.
Yeah
mike-
and
I
also
really
want
to
thank
my
colleagues,
director,
trent
nergin
and
also
kristin
from
bps
for
all
the
work
that
they
do
as
well
as
jennifer
director
of
lca
here
with
us
today.
G
Tren
and
kristen
have
covered
the
work
that
we
really
do
around
literacy
here
at
the
city,
and
it
is
extraordinary
work,
and
I
think
the
only
thing
that
I
want
to
point
out
here
is
that
there's
there's
two
aspects
to
this:
docket.
There's
the
literacy
barrier
for
those
who
struggle
with
any
language
right-
and
those
are
folks
that
come
here
because
even
in
their
own,
their
their
own
languages
aren't
necessarily
even
written
languages
right,
so
I'm
thinking
of,
for
instance,
somali
in
some
cases
of
haitian
creole
k,
verde
and
creole.
G
These
are
recent
languages
that
are
being
being
written
down
and
then
there's
a
second
aspect,
which
is
english
literacy.
For
those
who
are
learning
english
as
a
language
and
and
turn
and
christian
have
spoken
just
beautifully
to
the
work,
that's
happening
and
the
investment
that
that's
continued
to
be
required.
G
Here.
I
think
this
task
force
should
should
focus
on
both
of
these
pieces,
and
I'm
just
really
excited
to
be
a
part
of
this
with
such
esteemed
colleagues
to
to
figure
out
these
challenges
and
figure
out
how
we
can
make
more
investments
to
support
our
immigrant
communities.
Thank
you.
So
much
council
clerk.
A
Thank
you
and
you
nailed
it.
We
had
a
forum
this
weekend
led
by
the
the
african
diaspora,
the
community,
with
the
tremendous
smiley
presence
and
the
issues
that
you've
talked
about
with
the
issues
that
they
presented.
You
know
both
council
of
mihir
and
I
were
present,
and
we
hear
the
community
loud
and
clear,
so
look
forward
to
continued
partnership
and
thanks
for
working
you're
doing
on
behalf
of
the
immigrant
community,
and
at
this
time
the
chair
recognizes
jennifer
viva,
juan
who's,
the
director
of
office
of
language
and
communication
access.
H
Thank
you
so
much
good
afternoon
counselors.
I
wanted
to
just
say
thank
you
for
the
opportunity
to
be
involved
in
this
great
work,
especially
thank
you
to
councillor
mejia,
as
we
work
very
closely
together
on
the
ordinance
for
our
office,
and
I
know
that
this
was
something
that
was
very
important
and
crucial
for
us.
H
A
Thank
you
very
much
jennifer
and
for
the
work
and
you're
doing
in
the
language
communication
access.
I
see
that
we've
been
rejoined
by
my
colleague
city
council,
liz
braden,
so
liz
if
you're
providing
you're
not
experiencing
technical
difficulties.
You
want
to
just
give
a
brief
opening
statement
before
we
start
our
next
panel.
I
I
A
Thank
you,
council,
braden
and
well
said,
and
we're
going
to
introduce
our
second
panel
now
and
then
we'll
hold
questions
to.
We
can
have
for
both
panels.
So
dr
gail
crump
swaby
associate
professor
of
counseling
clinical
mental
health
counseling
coordinator
at
springfield
college.
You
have
the
floor
if
you
can
start
off
our
second
panel.
A
J
Hi,
thank
you
good
afternoon.
Thank
you,
councillor,
flaherty,
for
introducing
me
and
thank
you
councillor,
mejia,
for
all
your
work
on
establishing
this
tax
task
force
and
to
all
the
others
who
have
spoken.
Thank
you
for
your
support
and
leadership.
My
name
is
elizabeth.
Santiago.
I
have
been
living
in
the
city
of
boston,
my
entire
life.
My
interest
in
literacy
is
personal,
as
some
of
the
other
members
have
described
already.
J
J
J
But
it's
meant
to
be
a
space
where
folks
can
cultivate
their
voice
and
learn
the
craft
of
writing
without
feeling
that
shame
of
not
being
able
to
actually
be
perfectly
literate
being
able
to
express
themselves
in
some
way.
So
I
do
think
that
this
is
an
extremely
important
initiative.
I'm
happy
to
to
be
here
and
a
part
of
it.
K
We
provide
city-wide,
esol
coordination
program,
support,
teacher
training,
piloting
and
evaluation
of
customized
initiatives
such
as
workplace
parent
and
entrepreneurs,
esol
plus
oversight
to
enable
18,
high
caliber
esol
programs
to
serve
immigrant
job
seekers.
Parents
and
small
business
owners
enb
also
collects
data
and
best
practice
analysis.
K
K
Now
through
enb,
I
train
and
coach
teachers
of
basic
literacy
esol
in
boston
and
statewide.
From
this
background,
I
have
three
thoughts.
I'd
like
to
share
with
you
today
in
support
of
the
creation
of
this
task
force
to
address
the
literacy
rates
in
the
city
of
boston,
so
first
adults
with
limited
literacy,
especially
those
who
are
also
non-native
english
speakers
are
uncounted
or
they're
counted
inaccurately.
K
K
Another
study
piac
in
2011
also
found
one
in
five
and
differentiated
that
by
nativity
by
whether
people
were
born
in
the
us
or
born
in
another
country.
Piac
found
that
people
born
outside
the
united
states
are
over
represented
in
that
one
in
five.
That
is
that
english
literacy
rates
are
lower
among
people
born
outside
the
u.s.
K
So
that
is
that
a
doctor
or
a
lawyer
who
is
a
new
immigrant
and
hasn't
learned
any
english.
Yet
that
person
cannot
yet
read
and
write
well
in
english,
but
they
belong
in
a
different
group
from
someone
who
has
never
learned
to
read
and
write
in
any
language,
but
too
often
they're,
conflated
and
counted
together.
K
One
of
my
students
wore
glasses
in
my
class,
and
she
said
when
she
was
a
child.
She
couldn't
see
the
board
she
fell
behind
and
the
classrooms
in
her
country
were
very
big
with
40
or
50
students
and
the
weaker
students
had
to
sit
in
the
back.
So
once
she
fell
behind
a
little
bit,
she
got
more
and
more
lost
until
eventually
she
dropped
out.
K
One
of
my
students
worked
as
a
cleaner
at
the
airport,
where,
after
cleaning
a
restroom,
she
had
to
sign
the
card
on
the
back
of
the
door
with
her
name
and
the
date
and
time
and
her
manager
was
supportive,
but
she
couldn't
you
know
she
couldn't
do
that
and
she
really
wanted
to
do
that.
She
learned
to
sign
those
cards
in
my
class
and
the
night
that
she
came
in
she
said
I
signed
I
signed
I
signed.
She
was
really
happy
to
be
able
to
perform
that
job
duty.
K
All
of
these
are
challenging
to
someone
who
doesn't
speak
english,
but
very
much
more
difficult.
If
someone
also
doesn't
read
and
write
well
in
any
language
once
their
needs
were
identified
and
they
had
appropriately
specialized
help.
My
students
reached
successes
in
all
of
these
and
many
more
areas.
K
L
So
I
grew
up
with
13
siblings,
in
boston
pre-desegregation
during
desegregation,
and
went
back
to
work
in
boston,
public
schools.
I
had
siblings,
who
struggled
with
literacy.
Some
of
them
were
smarter
than
me,
but
they
did
not
get
the
help
that
they
needed.
I
did
in
internship
at
northeastern
university,
where
I
went
into
norfolk
prison
to
tutor
inmates
who
were
struggling
with
literacy.
L
My
first
student
was
a
35
year
old,
who
had
already
served
15
years
of
a
life
sentence
who
was
struggling
with
reading,
also
provided
support
in
literacy
to
individuals
who
were
in
drug
treatment
centers.
Right
now,
I
am
retired
from
boston,
public
schools.
I
work
with
dys
and
address
the
needs
of
dys
incarcerated
youth
who
come
from
boston
who
are
still
reading,
despite
being
in
high
school
at
the
third
fifth
grade
level.
So
this
problem
is
not
new.
It
also
is
not
new
that
it
is
situated
and
impacts
black
and
brown
students.
L
We
also
have
immigrant
students
at
a
higher
number
now
or
struggling
with
literacy.
This
is
a
problem
that
has
not
been
solved
but
has
to
have
a
systemic
solution
in
creating
an
infrastructure.
I
appreciate
looking
at
literacy
in
the
city
of
boston,
but
what
we
know
for
sure
is
that
students
who
are
not
taught
to
read
in
school
become
adults
who
struggle
with
literacy
and
become
parents
who
struggle
with
literacy
and
face
barriers
in
housing
in
employment
in
accessing
city
services.
So
this
is
a
critical
issue
that
needs
to
be
resolved.
L
What
we
know
for
sure
is
that
in
2000,
the
national
reading
panel
came
up
with
a
body
of
research
that
really
informed
how
reading
can
be
taught.
We
know
that
one
in
five
students-
twenty
percent
of
our
population
struggles
with
reading-
and
we
know
that
when
these
students
come
to
school
and
are
taught
one
way
they
and
they
do
not
respond,
they
don't
get
the
intervention
or
the
alternative
methods
that
they
need.
L
We
call
many
of
these
students,
neurodiverse
typically
in
boston,
public
schools
they
have
been
after
they
have
failed
for
many
years
put
in
special
education
and
still
have
not
received
the
help.
We
have
the
information
to
teach
anyone
how
to
read.
I've
worked
in
adult
literacy
where
I've
taught
someone
as
old
as
almost
80
years
old,
how
to
read
for
the
first
time
it's
exciting.
But
my
point
is
that
this
is
a
problem
that
can
be
solved.
I'm
so
excited
that
counselor
mejia
has
come
up
with
this
ordinance.
L
L
A
Thank
you
very
much
edith
for
your
input
and
I'm
gonna
just
start
off
just
get
right
into
just
three
quick
questions
that
I
have
before.
We
turn
it
over
to
the
lead
sponsor.
My
colleagues
is,
and
it's
open
to.
Whoever
is
best
suited,
I
guess
is
who
is
respond?
Who
will
be
responsible
for
appointing
the
members
of
the
task
force?
A
What
is
the
imagined
task
force
role
in
interaction
with
the
with
the
school
committee
and
is
the
stipend
in
line
with
other
stipends
that
provided
other
sort
of
committee
or
task
force
members
in
the
city
so
I'll?
Throw
that
over
to
whoever
is
from
the
administration
is
best
suited
to
answer
those
ones.
G
Counselor,
I
think
those
are
great
questions
and
just
to
be
very
transparent.
I
think
we
we'd
wanna
do
to
have
an
internal
conversation
before
getting
back
to
you
on
that
piece
and,
as
you
also
know,
there
is
going
to
be
a
transition
soon.
So
in
in
good
faith.
I
think
it
would
be
right
to
give
it
give
you
an
answer.
After
the
transition.
E
I
defer
to
this
is
trend
from
owd.
I
think
I
I
agree
with
my
colleague
yusufi,
but
I
I
do
want
to
throw
out
support
for
this
effort.
So
owd
can
be
happy
to
be
the
fiscal
agent
of
whatever
you
need
us
to
do.
To
make
sure
that
board
members
notes
and
administrative
support
can
be
provided
and
also
any
stipends
or
fiscal
transactions
that
need
to
be
done.
E
B
Yes,
thank
you.
Thank
you
everyone.
So
I
guess
you
know.
We've
received
some
plenary
feedback
from
the
administration
advocates
as
to
who
ought
to
serve
on
this
task
force,
but
I
you
know
for
us:
we
wanted
to
create
space
for
everyone
to
come
forward
and
brainstorm
ideas
on
how
else
you
know
to
be
in
the
space.
So
I
just
wanted
to
just
know.
B
F
That
that's
a
good
question
and
that's
a
question
all
of
our
students
ask
us
when
they,
when
they
enter
our
doors.
How
long
is
this
going
to
take
me
and
it
really?
It
depends
on
a
lot
of
things.
It
depends
on
how
how
much
school
they've
had
in
the
past.
It
depends
on
whether
or
not
they
had
schooling
and
their
first
language.
It
depends
on
whether
their
their
language,
fluency
language
level
is
in
english.
It
depends
on
how
they
are
as
test
takers,
so
we
have
students
who
we
just
graduated
last
year.
F
F
How
long
they
stay
with
us,
how
quickly
they
get
a
job.
We
do
have
literacy
classes
for
students
who
are
learning
english,
and
so
students
who
are
in
that
class
stay
with
us
longer
because
they
do
want
to
stay,
to
learn
to
read
and
write.
So,
although
their
oral
language
is
higher,
they
will
stay
with
us
until
they
feel
comfortable
in
their
reading
and
writing
skills.
B
I'm
just
curious
when,
when
learning
a
new
language
and
learning
to
read
and
write,
we
know
it
takes
a
long
time,
and
that
is
part
of
the
reason
why
we're
trying
to
explore
ways
to
provide
services
to
people
who
cannot
read
or
write
in
any
language.
You
know
I
talk
about
the
fact
that
my
mom
didn't
go
beyond
third
grade
and
struggled
to
with
reading
and
writing
even
in
her
native
language,
which
is
why
I
was
able
to
get
away
with
a
lot,
because
I
was
the
official
translator.
B
So
I'm
curious,
if
you
guys
have
seen
any
any
connection
between,
even
just
when
you
know
recent
arrivals
and
students
who
are
coming
to
this
country
for
the
first
time
and
their
parents
are
adult
learners.
What
kind
of
supports
and
and
what
type
of
programs
exist
if
any,
to
kind
of
do
assessments
for
some
of
these
parents
who
are
coming
into
this
country.
B
F
So
so
here
at
bps,
when
the
students
come
to
register,
they
go
through
the
family
resource
center
and
I
don't
work
in
in
that
division.
But
we
do
work
closely
with
them
where
we
share
all
of
our
classes
and
information,
they
have
they're
familiar
with
our
application
process
and
they're
able
to
refer
any
families
that
need
services
to
us,
and
then
those
parents
do
get
priority
in
our
seed.
They
don't
do
any
initial
assessment
of
the
parents.
F
B
So
I'm
just
curious
about
section
12-17
point,
titled
responsibilities
and
authorities
of
the
task
force
outlined
several
different
things
that
the
task
force
should
do
to
make
progress
in
this
space
and
I'm
curious.
What
do
you
feel
what
if
anyone
could
just
share
what
you
feel
is
missing?
What
do
you
feel
is
not
necessary
in
this
paragraph.
B
K
I
have
I
have
one
thought
if
I
may,
that
I
think
access
to
accessibility
of
other
city
services-
accessibility
of
you
know
the
food
services
and
housing,
and
things
like
that
are
a
separate
kind
of
issue
from
access
to
educational
services
to
help
those
adults
build
their
skills.
So
I
think
people
need
both
like
they
need
pathways
to
improve
their
to
improve
their
literacy
and
education
and
english
skills,
and
then
they
also
need
to
to
be
able
to
access
other
kinds
of
city
services.
C
Yeah
thanks
so
much
counselor
clarity.
This
is
a
question.
I
think
a
number
of
speakers
sort
of
alluded
to
this,
so
I
just
wanted
to
get
thoughts
from
anybody,
but
I
mean
it
strikes
me
that
what
counselor
mejia
is
trying
to
do
here
right
is
really
kind
of
help
us
make
a
phase
shift
in
in
how
many
people
were
able
to
really
help
on
the
literacy
front,
and
I
know
trent
early
in
your
remarks.
C
F
I
think
I
think,
for
me,
stopping
these
positions
is
not
always
easy,
because
the
teachers
who
have
the
expertise
in
in
reading
and
second
language
instruction
are
certified
desi
teachers
and
can
work
and
as
a
k-12
teacher
and
make
a
lot
a
lot
more
money.
And
so
we
are
left
with
the
people
who
are
either
retired
and
are
wanting
to
do
this
work
or
you
know
just
genuinely
interested
in
working
with
adults.
But
I
think,
for
this
is
really
an
area
of
specialization
and
you
want.
F
C
Awesome.
Sorry,
sorry,
no!
No!
I
was
just
gonna
yeah.
I
was
just
gonna
ask
what
do
you
think
like?
What
is
it
about?
Is
it
about
pay?
Is
it
about
creating
a
teacher
training
institute
to
get
more
of
those
people
to
exist?
I
mean,
but
if
you
wanna,
I
can
come
back
kristen
edith.
If
you
want
to
jump
in.
L
At
some
point,
so
I
see
this
as
multi-dimensional,
but
also
having
individuals
who
are
well
somewhat
trained
in
the
use
of
science
of
reading,
but
also
understand
how
non-english
speaking
individuals
can
be
taught
reading
as
well
and
supporting
their
native
language.
So
it
is
going
to
take
a
little
bit
of
work
to
have
targeted
support
for
the
populations
that
we're
talking
about
to
ensure
that
we
are,
you
know,
moving
the
needle
in
terms
of
their
progress
and
developing
literacy.
E
Thank
you
edith.
This
is
tren
councillor
bach.
I
really
appreciate
that
question,
which
is
why
I
deeply
with
my
colleagues
here
deeply
appreciate
councilman
mejia
for
developing
this
ordinance
for
a
task
force.
I
mean
I,
I
think
that
throughout
the
city,
through
my
eight
years
of
just
specifically
working
with
a
adult
literacy
initiative,
it
has
been
you
know.
Without
due
respect.
All
over
the
place
I
mean
we've
had
efforts
from
various
pockets
of
the
city.
E
We
have
social
impact
bonds,
that's
a
national
leader
with
jewish
vocational
services,
but
we've
also
have
mom
and
pop,
and
also
specialized
cultural,
appropriate
tailored
programs
to
meet
students
and
residents
where
they
are,
and
so
all
of
that
is
really
important.
The
question
is:
how
do
we
consolidate
them
in
an
organized
way?
That's
based
on
evaluation
and
research
and
evidence-based
practices,
I'm
not
championing
one
model
or
one
approach
to
the
other.
E
We
eight
years
ago
we
have
reorganized
for
good
bad
or
ugly.
We
have
reorganized
the
adult
literacy
initiative
to
comply
to
deci,
which
is
the
leading
state
entity
for
metrics
and
learning
gains,
and
so
we've
just
focused
on
programs
with
those
metrics
to
report
out,
so
that
we
can
articulate
a
unified
state-backed
research
outcomes.
E
I'm
not
saying
that's
the
best
way,
I'm
just
saying
that
was
one
way
in
which
owd
could
organize
a
subset
of
the
adult
literacy
initiative,
there's
much
more
in
the
in
the
space,
and
I
I
really
appreciate
the
opportunity
that
this
task
force
can
start
dissecting,
this,
of
course,
with
financial
resources
and
consultants
and
research
to
really
lay
this
out,
and
so
that's
a
long-winded
question
answer
to
say
that
the
this
is.
This
is
an
a.
This
is
a
a
major
task
for
the
task
force.
C
Great,
thank
you
so
much
yeah.
I
just
think
that's
got
to
be
the
that's
got
to
be
the
focus
of
an
effort
like
this.
I
think
counselor
mejia
always
talks
about.
You
know
us
having
the
same
conversations
over
and
over
right,
and
so
it's
like
how
do
we?
How
do
we
make
pulling
everybody
together
additive
in
a
way
that
really
like
gets,
gets
to
results?
C
Because
I,
because
I
think,
for
people
the
way
I
think
about
it
is
like
I
think
some
somebody
in
your
somebody
on
the
panel
and
I'm
so
sorry
that
I've
forgotten,
who
referred
to
the
fact
that,
like
anybody,
can
learn
to
read
right
and
I-
and
I
just
I
think,
that's
so
important
to
focus
on,
because
I
think
that's
in
some
of
our
kind
of
and
trend.
You
can
say
whether
you
agree
or
not,
but
I
feel
like
in
some
of
our
workforce
development
like
worlds.
C
There
are
types
of
things
where,
like
you
know,
you
run
a
program
and
you
don't
know
if
someone's
going
to
have
aptitude
for
it,
and
so
the
idea
is
like
oh
well,
we'll
take
a
bunch
of
people
in
and
like
some
of
them
will
really
take
to
welding,
and
some
of
them
will
learn
from
this,
but
they
didn't
want
to
be
a
welder
right
and
that's
sort
of
like
fine
outcomes
wise.
But
I
feel
like
with
this.
You
don't
want
to
have
the
out
the
outlook
of
like.
C
Oh
some
people
are
meant
to
become
literate
and
others
aren't,
because
all
of
the
pedagogy
tells
us
that
if
people
have
the
right
supports,
they
can
learn
to
read
right,
and
so
so
I
just
really
want
to
make
sure
that
we
that
we
use
this
opportunity.
Counselor
is
proposing
to
make
sure
that
we're
not
just
focused
on
having
seats
in
literacy
programs,
but
we're
focused
on
having
those
to
edith's
point
be
really
well
tailored
to
the
population
they're
serving
and
then
have
people
coming
out
of
them.
C
You
know
with
these
new
literacy
skills,
so
that
would
be
my
big
focus
and
counselor
media.
I
I
don't
know
enough
to
know
if
there
are
other
stakeholders
that
should
be
on
the
task
force,
but
certainly
the
list
that
you
put
together
made
a
lot
of
sense
to
me
and
I
think
somebody
sorry
I
just
lost
I
I
don't
have
the
full
screen
up
today,
but
I
think
it
was
liz
or
lee.
C
Somebody
said
about
the
sort
of
two
different
outcomes,
and
I
agree
with
you
that
the
question
of
accessibility
of
city
services
for
low
literacy
is
different
from
increasing
literacy
rates,
but
I
do
think
councillor.
Mejia
would
like
this
task
force
to
think
about
both
those
things
right.
So
I
think
that's
an
intentional
duality,
but
I
see,
I
see
edith's
hand
is
up
well.
L
I
just
wanted
to
make
a
quick
comment,
because
I
think
it
has
to
be
asset
based
so
you're
dealing
with
adults
who
have
histories,
who
have
a
voice
who
have
done
work
in
the
community
who
have
an
identity
and
so
really
kind
of
you
know,
figuring
out.
Where
are
they
in
this
literacy
continuum?
They
may
be
struggling
with
reading,
but
they
do
have
forms
of
literacy
and
acknowledging
that
and
coming
from
a
strength-based
perspective,
but
also
cultivating
within
this
model.
L
If,
if
that's
what
you
want
to
call
it,
those
who
can
begin
to
lead
because
they've
had
the
experience
and
now
they
are
reading,
so
they
can
maybe
come
back
and
help
others.
So
motivation
is
an
important
piece.
I
know
that
when
I
worked
with
adults,
you
know
I
I
had
one
client
who
wanted
to
write
a
letter
to
his
girlfriend.
D
D
D
Immigrant
families
when,
when
the
when
the
parent
may
not
speak,
when
the
parent
may
not
speak
english
and
the
child
may
not
speak
english
and
the
child
may
also,
have
you
know
disabilities
as
well
or
maybe
the
parent
does
you
know
it
takes
a
whole,
takes
the
whole
family
really
to
be
educated
to
be
literate?
How
would
we
make
sure
we
get
these
services
to
the
the
parent
and
the
child
almost
at
the
same
time,
so
that
the
parent
can
have
an
impact
on
the
child
during
their
child's
school?
K
English
for
new
bostonians
has
an
esl
for
parents
initiative
that
so
we,
the
parents
are
learning
english
and
they
have
kids
in
bps
or
in
early
education,
and
the
curriculum
of
the
classes
is
around
things
like
how
to
read
report
cards,
how
to
have
a
conference
with
your
child's
teacher.
What
are
expectations
of
parents
in
terms
of
you
know,
schools
in
the
united
states.
K
We
currently
support
four
programs
doing
that
and
eight
classes
total
and
there
is
a
need
for
a
great
deal
more
and
additionally
for
more
specialization
of
that.
According
to
level
and
going
back
to
counselor
box
question
about
quality,
that's
that
would
be
my
main
comment
about
quality
that
that
education
services
need
to
be
differentiated
by
level.
K
That's
true
for
kids
and
it's
true
for
adults
and
it's
true
about
their
english
level
and
then
also
about
their
literacy
level,
and
one
example
is,
I
would
you
know,
students
as
as
ms
basil
said,
coming
from
a
strength-based
approach
and
working
with
people's
strengths.
I,
when
students
were
in
a
class
together
just
with
people
who
also
had
limited
reading
and
writing
skills,
their
speaking
and
listening.
Skills
could
take
off
in
english
because
they
weren't.
K
If,
if
I
was
teaching
speaking
and
listening-
and
I
wasn't
using
print
materials,
they
weren't
held
back
by
not
understanding
the
print
and
they
could.
They
could
learn
to
speak
much
faster.
So
it
serves
nobody
to
have.
You
know
the
doctor
in
the
same
classroom
as
somebody
who
never
went
to
school
and
differentiating
by
level
offers
the
opportunity
to
also
offer
specialized
services
like
esl,
for
parents
that
that
whole
families
can
benefit
from.
G
And
just
to
add,
thank
you
so
much
lee
and
and
really
appreciate
all
the
incredible
work
by
the
way.
Enb
does
I
I,
I
think,
council
film.
We
have
to
meet
people
where
they're
at
in
the
situation
you're
describing
and
I
think,
if
we're
truly
about
equity
in
the
city.
You
know,
I
think,
the
a
great
example
of
that
is
the
new
school
committee
member,
rafaela,
garcia
right
and
how
we
are
shifting
systems
to
accommodate.
G
You
know
a
primarily
spanish-speaking,
you
know
school
committee,
member
right
and
so
to
the
extent
that
we
can
bring
in
people
with
the
skill
set,
the
language
skill
set
to
to
be
able
to
serve
our
parents
and
our
students
in
their
native
language.
I
think
that's,
that's!
Those
are
some
of
the
steps
that
we
have
to
take
and
I
think
we
also
have
to
recognize
in
that
that
you
know
our
immigrant
communities
are
incredibly
resilient.
So
I
know
when
I
moved
to
this
country.
G
I
stayed
at
my
auntie's
house
first,
and
it
was
really
my
auntie
who
really
worked
with
my
mother
to
really
understand
and
my
father
to
really
understand
how
the
school
system
worked
and,
and
then
it
was
based
on
what
my
cousin
was
going
through,
that
I
was
learning
all
kinds
of
different
things.
So
I
think
it's
also
tapping
into
the
the
incredible
resiliency
and
resources
that
our
american
communities
have
that.
That's
really
important
so
and
thank
you
for
that
wonderful
question.
L
I
think
just
a
piggyback
on
what
lee
said
front
loading
the
you
know,
having
that
strength,
rate
approach
and
front
loading
with
success,
because
I
think
what
you
just
described
is
success
begets
success
so
that
entry
point
of
you
know
you
can
have
discussions.
You
have
a
lot
of
language.
You
know
we're
going
to
introduce
the
words
that
represent
what
you're
saying
or
you
know,
having
some
entry
point.
L
That
is
a
success
driven
process
and
also
it's
really
really
important
for
adults
to
know
why
they
are
what
they're
struggling
with
and
in
setting
their
own
priorities.
So
I
want
to
increase
my
literacy
because
I
want
to,
as
we
indicate
read
my
child's
report
card,
or
maybe
I
need
to
access
city
services
so
that
that
piece
is
really
important
to
individualize
how
you
begin
to
work
with
that
person
and
also
have
some
sort
of
accurate
screening
approach.
So
you'll
know
what
their
strengths
are.
L
D
I
Elizabeth
thank
you,
mr
chair.
I
really
want
to
appreciate
edith
for
her
her
holding
up
the
importance
of
of
just
recognizing
the
assets
that
people
have
and
and
some
if
they
don't
have
a
literary
tradition
in
their
countries
of
origin,
that
there's
a
huge
oral
oral
literacy
oral
literacy
tradition
in
many
places
where
that
is
passed
down
from
generation
to
generation.
So
I
really
feel
that
setting
adults
setting
their
own
goals
and
and
setting
their
own
objectives
is
really
helpful
and
motivating
for
everyone.
I
The
the
one
concern
I
have
it's
and
this
may
not,
and
the
focus
may
be
entirely
on
adult
literacy.
I
hope
it's
not
because
one
of
the
biggest
challenges
for
our
young
people,
especially
are
is
our
students
in
in
bps
or
any
school.
If
they,
if
they
fall
behind,
it's
like
they
become
further
and
further
to
the
back
of
the
class
and
and
they
they
it's
very,
very
difficult
to
catch
up.
I
They
become
demotivated
and
and
and
just
really
challenged
to
to
keep
going,
and
so
I
don't
know
this
might
be
a
question
for
kristen.
You
know
identifying
students
who
have
is
not
the
first
language.
Obviously,
but
the
challenges
of
maybe
identifying
is
it
because
english
is
not
the
first
language
or
do
they
have
a
learning
disability?
I
Are
we
adequately
resourcing
the
assessment
and
and
culturally
competent
assessment
of
those
students
so
that
we
can
identify
if
it's
just,
if
there's
some
underlying
learning
disability
there
or
is
it
or
what's
going
on
you
know,
sometimes
the
issue
of
hearing
and
vision
issues?
Obviously
we
screen
for
those,
but
is
israel?
I
L
L
So
you
read
across
the
content
areas
you
read
in
science,
you
have
math,
you
have
math
words,
and
so
if
a
child
doesn't
read
early
and
effectively
accurately
and
is
able
to
extract
meaning
directly
from
printed
text,
we
know
that
they're
going
to
struggle
because
you're
in
school
for
six
hours,
learning
is
literacy
and
literacy
is
learning,
and
so
we
see
the
frustration
of
children
who
hide
it.
There
are
shame
involved
and
not
learning
to
read.
L
You
see
all
other
children
reading
you
know
of
easily
with
with
ease,
and
these
children
are
bright,
intelligent
children
and
so
the
the
purpose
of
this
whole
study
and
by
the
way,
jesse
passed
dyslexia
guidelines.
I
was
on
the
dyslexia
stakeholder
group
and
we
use
the
science
of
reading
there's
a
whole.
This
is
the
this
is
actually
the
body
of
research.
The
national
reading
piano
put
this
out
in
2000
and
it
is
an
evidence-based
assessment
of
scientific
reading,
literature
on
reading
and
its
implications
for
reading
instruction.
L
The
purpose
of
the
universal
screening
is
to
figure
out
where
they
struggle
intervene
early
so
that
they
don't
continue
to
struggle,
and
you
know
my
my
work
in
special
education
has
been
that
there
has
been
a
way
to
fail
model,
so
sometimes
people
say
well,
let's
give
them
another
year.
Maybe
they'll
pick
it
up
in
second
grade,
but
we
know
it
doesn't
happen.
Why?
Because
children
who
struggle
with
reading
are
what
we
now
call
neural
diverse.
L
So
when
information
is
processed
through
the
brain,
some
children
process
it
differently,
and
so
they
need
a
different
methodology.
They
need
explicit
phonics.
They
need
a
systematic,
rule-based,
step-by-step
approach,
which
is
very
different
from
well.
I
can
pick
up
a
book
and
I
can
just
read
it
with
a
little
instruction
versus
a
child
who
needs
to
be
taught
how
to
unlock
the
codes.
L
This
particular
letter
says
this
and
when
it's
combined
with
the
vowel,
it
says
something
different.
Then,
if
there's
a
vowel
on
the
end,
it
becomes
a
long
vowel.
You
know
so
there's
so
many
rules
involved,
and
so
we
have
taught
reading
in
one
way
and
that
one
way
has
left
that
one
in
five
students,
20
of
our
population
behind
and
those
students
have
in
many
cases,
ended
up
in
special
education.
But
the
problem
is
once
they
go
into
special
ed.
L
That's
what
this
research
from
the
national
reading
panel
tells
us
that
the
the
early
screening
is
so
critical,
because
if
you
intervene
teach
reading
differently,
which
is
how
these
children's
brains
operate,
then
that
child
can
go
on
and
you
know,
is
successful,
but
if
you
wait
and
they're
in
fourth
grade
in
fifth
grade
now,
you
have
a
child
who's
acting
up.
Who
is
not
when
there's
independent
reading.
I
can't
read
the
book,
so
I'm
gonna
do
something
else
and
ends
up
in
special
ed.
L
So
the
the
the
whole
challenge
here
is
to
identify
these
students
give
them
that
block
of
reading.
That
is
different,
and
sometimes
you
can
do
it
right
in
the
classroom.
So
this
is
not
a
problem,
the
way
to
fail
model,
because
if
a
child,
you
know,
of
course
a
lot
of
this
is
brain-based
research,
because
the
brain
is
what
they
call
plastic
and
open
vulnerable
to
different
methodology.
L
L
I
You
thank
you
medis.
You
know
I
have
a
family
member
who
had
I
I'm
probably
on
the
undiagnosed
dyslexia
when
she
was
a
kid
she
she
always
placed
herself
beside
a
good
reader
and
then
she
would
ask
them
to.
She
couldn't
read
the
book,
which
would
ask
them
to
tell
her
what
the
book
said
and
then
she
would
remember
it.
I
Auditory
learning
she'd
be
able
to
recite
and
make
retell
what
was
told
to
her
and
she
managed
to
be
a
very
successful
adult
and
go
to
college
and
all
the
rest
of
it,
but
she
she
was
better
at
math,
because
you
didn't
need
to
do
so
much
reading
and
subjects
that
required
a
lot
of
reading
she
struggled
with.
So
I
just
feel
that
you
know,
as
you
say,
an
individualized
approach
and
good
assessment
and
good
strategies
to
help
folks
is
sort
of
critical
to
this
process.
I
A
M
A
B
Yeah,
so
just
two
things
I
wanted
to
with
elizabeth
santiago.
I
know
that
you've
been
doing
some
programming
and
thinking
about
some
creative
ways
to
engage
young
people
in
in
reading
and
learning
and
literacy.
So
would
love
to
hear
a
little
bit
about
that,
and
then
I
also
just
want
to
underscore
that.
B
My
hope
is
that
this
ordinance,
this
task
force,
will
help
us
unpack
what
the
issues
are,
but
that
to
bring
the
thought
leaders
into
the
space
so
that
we
can
address
it
both
in
our
boston,
public
schools
and
our
workforce
development
and
our
adult
learners
and
new
immigrants
right,
and
I
want
to
just
be
really
clear
that
this
is
not
just
for
immigrants.
And
you
know,
el
ell's,
like
this
issue,
is
impacting
students
from
all
across
the
spectrum
here.
B
So
just
want
to
make
sure
that,
as
we
start
thinking
about
this,
that
we're
not
just
focusing
on
ells
right,
like
the
situation,
is
impacting
students
from
across
the
entire
city.
But
elizabeth
would
love
to
learn
a
little
bit
more
about
some
of
the
work
that
you've
been
doing
and
kind
of
like
what
you've
been
hearing
from
this
space
and
and
creating
some
space
for
us
to
really
think
creatively
about
like
how
we
can
tackle
this.
J
You
know
how
to
translate
that
into
some
writing,
and
I
had
a
lot
of
success
with
that
and
my
doctoral
work
focused
on
working
with
adult
students.
They
happened
to
all
be
women
who,
were
you
know
the
age
range
was
there
was
an
80
year
old,
a
student
that
I
worked
with
a
45
year
old
and
a
20
year
old,
so
I
had
a
bit
of
a
spectrum
and
they
each
were
able
to
participate
because
they
wanted
to
tell
their
life
story.
J
There
are
small
chunks
of
things
that
folks
can
learn
to
just
sort
of
express
themselves.
I'm
not
looking
for
perfection
like
that's.
This
is
a
space
where,
regardless,
if
you
make
spelling
errors
or
if
you
are
still
learning
how
to
write
a
sentence,
you
can
come
and
explore,
and
I
think
that
it's
important,
I
think
my
takeaway
from
this
conversation
is
that
we
can't
do
the
same
old
same
old.
J
We
sort
of
have
to
look
at
this
in
a
way
that
is
reflective
of
innovative
practices
and
taking
into
consideration
the
whole
student,
not
just
these
practical
skills
which
are
wonderful
and
you
need
them,
but
also
about
you
know
their
motivation.
Their
emotional
side,
their
their
sense
of
identity
and
their
sense
of
pride
in
who
they
are
as
people
and
then
so.
J
B
Thank
you
for
that
and
that's
why
I
invited
both
edith
and
you
to
to
this,
to
be
part
of
the
paddle
from
a
community
and
and
people
who
have
lived
the
experiences
and
have
been
doing
the
work
in
your
own
prospective
spaces,
because
I
really
do
think
that
one
of
the
mandates
of
this
task
force
is
to
really
challenge
ourselves
to
really
think
outside
the
box
and
to
be
bolder
and
and
to
also
hold
ourselves
accountable
to.
How
do
we
measure
success
right?
B
I
think
that's
going
to
be
crucial
in
terms
of
our
success
and
I
also
love
and
appreciate
the
asset
base,
because
I
think
sometimes
we
always
lead
with
the
things
that
we
don't
have,
but
there's
a
lot
of
resiliency
and
a
lot
of
survivor
skills
to
be
able
to
come
up
in
a
system.
Knowing
that
you
have
struggled
to
read
and
write
your
entire
life,
but
you
have
still
managed
to
to
get
by
and-
and
I
think
those
cases
exist
and
would
love
to
my
doggie
is
letting
everybody
know
but
yeah.
B
B
A
Well,
that
will
conclude
today's
hearing
unless
anyone
else
has
any
additional
thoughts
and
comments.
So
the
committee
on
government
operations
with
respect
to
target
zero
six
zero
zero,
that's
an
ordinance
to
create
a
task
force
to
address
literacy
rates
in
the
city
of
boston.
The
chair
on
committee
on
operations
will
adjourn
the
hearing.