Placards, drums, and the energy of more than 500 protestors flooded Judson Memorial Church in Greenwich Village yesterday, demanding an increase of $20 million in the City's budget for adult literacy programs offered by grassroots community organizations, CUNY and the public libraries.

“The English program in my community helped me get a better job, and now I'm doing more to help my kids with their schoolwork,” said Dinora Rodríguez, from Ecuador. The organizations are asking for more funds for GED programs and for courses in English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL).

“When you have to make a choice between rent and food for your children and an English class, the class comes last,” added Jorge Miranda, a Peruvian resident of the Bronx. That is why the Coalition for Adult Literacy is working on a program that also seeks an increase of $170 million in federal funds, $7 million more in state funds, as well as $9.3 million for EDGE, a job training program.

According to the Coalition's data, more than 1.23 million New Yorkers have a low level of literacy and little skill in the English language. Only 62,467 of them are enrolled in the programs, which means that only five percent of those who need the service are getting it, with the further obstacle that most of the programs have long waiting lists.

“We have marvelous teachers and we are losing them because we don't have the money to pay them,” said Phyllis Bernan, executive director of the Riverside Language Program, who emphasized that “What we need is more money.”

Dawn Walker, a spokeswoman for the Mayor's office, said that “implementing the recommendations of the Economic Opportunities Commission, the Mayor has committed $18 million to increase literacy and English language skills among adults so that they can become self-sufficient and break the circle of poverty.”