Wondering why we should save adult education when we're in the middle of a budget crisis and there's not enough money to go around?
Our Assistant Director Tim Doyle has a few good reasons why:
Over 20% of adult Californians, 5.3 million people, lack a high school diploma or equivalent degree. Half of these people have less than a ninth grade education in a time when education beyond high school is the prerequisite for workforce success.
More than 3 million adult immigrants lack basic English skills. These immigrants and their children will be the replacement generation for the retiring baby boomers who had the highest levels of education and salary compensation in US history.
Adult Schools provide the foundation level of education for these groups of people. The opportunities that Adult Schools provide for immigrants to enter and high school dropouts to re-enter the education system do not exist anywhere else. There is no seat for these students when Adult Schools close.
Governor’s Brown proposal on education funding, called the Weighted Student Formula, would eliminate funding for Adult Schools. His plan calls for money to be redirected to schools that serve high levels of low income and English learner chilldren. But closing education opportunities for the parents of those students will only make it more difficult for these children to achieve when their parents do not have the skills to get a job or to support their child’s education.
Tell your legislators to oppose Governor Brown’s Weighted Student Formula.
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