On the Ordinance, referred on  April 28, 2021, Docket #0600, to Create a Task Force to Address Literacy Rates in the City of Boston, the committee submitted a report recommending the ordinance ought to pass in a new draft.
Docket 0734 shall remain in the Committee on Civil Rights. Madam Clerk, would you now please read docket 0600? Certainly I could 0600 council zero off of the following wardens to create a task force to address literacy rates in the city of Boston. Thank you. The chair now recognizes the chair of the Committee on Governance Operations, Councilor Lydia Edwards. The floor is yours. Thank very much. I, I unfortunately could not chair this hearing. So I want to thank my vice chair, councilor at large, Michael Flaherty, for doing that. I do know that this is the conversation is to continue, however, and that the matter would stay in committee and work. We would have a working session to talk about the composition responsibilities of the task force. So now I'm going to turn it over to the vice chair and then, of course, the lead sponsor. Thank you, Madam Chair. The chair recognizes the vice chair of the Committee on Governance Operations, Counselor Michael and Vice Chair Michael Flaherty. The floor is yours. Thank you, Mr. President. This is a very important issue in our city. This will establish this ordinance will establish a literacy literacy task force to examine literacy rates. They will study the rates of literacy across Boston among adults and children, and also help develop a plan that will also put programs and policies in place to address literacy in the city. There's also a task force membership where non city Boston employees would be able to get a $100 stipend not to exceed a certain amount. And we had a great conversation with the administration and with the panelists that the lead sponsor had assembled. And questions remain. Of course, we put to put a series of questions in front of the administration. So we look forward to further discussion with the administration alongside our colleague and lead sponsor, Julie. Me here. Through. Through the chair to the lead sponsor. Sure. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Vice Chair. Chair now recognizes the lead sponsor and the At-Large Council from Dorchester Council. Julie May here. The floor is yours. Thank you, Mr. President. And thank you to Council Clarity for chairing a great hearing. It was incredibly inspiring to be able to sit in a meeting with so many experts in their fields uniting around a common cause. Thank you to the advocates who made their voices heard Edith Bazile, Elizabeth Santiago, Lee Harlan, as well as members of the administration who came to offer their support, including during wind use of valley, Jennifer Viola Wang, Christine Duvalier. And we learned a lot about people. We learned a lot about we learned a lot about people who this ordinance was designed to help and how we can make our efforts even stronger. The first thing we learned is that this is a pathway to literacy is different for everyone. And while some people it may take a matter of months, for others it may be years before they are able to get on that path. This is why it's so important to ensure that one of the responsibilities of this task force is to find ways to make access to services easier for people who cannot read or write in any language. Because while people are learning to read and write, they also still need help with the services that our city provides. The second thing we learned is that people who are relying on these literacy services are coming from all back to all types of backgrounds in need services that are catered to their lived experiences. Some people are coming as doctors and lawyers from their homeland who can read and write in their native language but have very limited English proficiency. Other people have never learned to read or write, even in their native language, because of war, lack of funds, family obligations, physical abilities and more. We need services that cater to each of these groups that allow them to thrive. It seems like forming this task force will be the best way to ensure that we're coordinating and consolidating our services in the best way possible. And I also just want to take a quick moment to acknowledge that, you know, we talk a lot about the school to prison pipeline here in the city of Boston. And I think this is a key opportunity to really look into how a lot of our young people are struggling to read and write and showing up with social and emotional issues in class. And oftentimes they end up in d y. Yes. So if we can tackle the issue of literacy and get a handle of it, we might be able to address the school to prison pipeline. Then we also have our returning citizens who are coming back from incarceration and struggle with reading and writing and are unable to fill out a job application. So I think about those folks. It's a really serious about addressing the issues of violence and poverty. And this will be an opportunity for us to really look at some of the root causes of what some of our returning citizens are experiencing. And then we're thinking about those who are coming to this country and juggling to make their ends meet, who've come here with interrupted education and are struggling to read and write. So I see this task force as an opportunity to address a lot of the issues that we've been talking about here in the city of Boston, and do so in a way that's going to look at some of the root causes. So I'm really looking forward. Or to this conversation. And I'm looking forward to working alongside my partners here to move this as quickly as possible so that we can file this ordinance and get it passed through the council. Thank you very much. Thank you very much, councilman here. DUCAT 0600 shall remain in the Committee on Government Operations, but motions, orders and resolutions. Madam Clerk, would you please read Docket 1135?