Your editorial “Harsh realities for Latinos, but little action’’ (March 13) makes an important and long-overdue point: In 2018, too many of our state’s undereducated and limited-English-proficient adults are languishing on waiting lists rather than contributing their full potential for their families and their communities. This hasn’t always been the case. Massachusetts was a national leader in welcoming and educating new arrivals — in the decades surrounding 1900. We were on the path to restoring this tradition in the late 1990s, and by 2001 we had established the nation’s most effective system of public adult basic education services, including adult literacy, high school equivalency, and English for speakers of other languages.

Since 2001, a combination of budget cuts and inflation has reduced the quantity and impact of these classes by more than 30 percent. This not only hurts native-born and immigrant families who are already struggling to get by in the new economy; it is also shortsighted social and economic policy. Reputable return-on-investment studies in other states show that for each dollar invested in adult basic education, communities see an average return of $3. Fully funding adult basic education is not only the right thing to do; it is an investment that benefits us all.

Bob Bickerton

Boston

The writer is a retired senior associate commissioner of elementary and secondary education and the former director of the state office of adult education.