Press Conference June 12, 2012

                                                                                San Mateo Adult School

                                                San Mateo Union High School District

                                                           

789 E. Poplar Avenue

, San Mateo, CA  94401

                                                            Office (650) 558-2101 ● Fax (650) 762-0232

                                                            Lawrence Teshara, Director

                                                            Tim Doyle, Asst. Director/Admin. Services

                                                            Fred Thompson, Asst. Director/Instr. Services

Adult Schools Face Extinction

Press Conference To Be Held

• What: Press conference by adult educators
• When: Tuesday June 12, 10:30 AM
• Where: San Mateo Adult School
• Why: Adult schools have received devastating cuts and face total elimination if Governor Brown's Weighted Student Formula is adopted as is. Adult schools must be taken out of this formula and given their own funding
• Who: U.S. Congressperson Jackie Speier, Adult educators and students from Los Angeles, Oakland, Berkeley, Campbell, San Mateo, and more

Contact Information

Informational questions:                      Tim Doyle, assistant director

                                                                        650-280-7924

                                                                        tdoyle@smace.org

Press conference organization:         Bruce Neuburger, press conference organizer, teacher

                                                                        415 -235-6918

bruceneu@gmail.com

School website:                                        http://www.smace.org/

Adult Education Matters blog:            http://www.adulteducationmatters.blogspot.com/

Address:                                                     

789 E. Poplar Ave.

                                                                        San Mateo, CA 94401

June 12, San Mateo – “The entire California adult school system could be destroyed by changes in the state budget and school funding,” says Larry Teshara, director of the San Mateo Adult School. “Adult school funds can now be used for other programs (Flexibility), and Governor Brown’s current budget proposal includes a new funding formula (Weighted Student Formula) that would eliminate dedicated funding for adult schools entirely.” Adult schools need dedicated funding restored.

• Five million adults in California don’t have high school diplomas.
• Seven million adults lack English proficiency.
• Half of all children in California have at least one immigrant parent.
• One third of California high school youth drop out before graduation.
• 2 million adult education students in 2009; 700,000 today; 350,000-400,000 estimated after 2012

“Adult schools provide vital services to the community that students cannot get elsewhere, all on a surprisingly small budget,” says Tim Doyle, San Mateo Adult School assistant director.  “Our students are those who want to complete their high school education, prepare for college, obtain new job skills, learn or improve their English language skills, learn to be better parents, or maintain their health and fitness as older adults.” Adult schools are needed more than ever, yet they are disappearing.

Adult schools used to receive dedicated funds. In response to the recession in 2008, the legislature introduced Flexibility. This has allowed school districts, facing cuts to other programs, to take money from their adult schools. Districts across the state have taken up to 90% of their adult school money, and many have closed their adult schools entirely.

The Los Angeles adult school system, by far the largest in the state with well over 200,000 students, may close this year. If not, it will receive devastating cuts. In either case, this alone could be the death knell for adult schools in California.

If Flexibility and the demise of LA Adult School do not eliminate all adult schools in the state, the Governor’s Weighted Student Formula will. While we support the idea of providing additional funding for the state’s neediest children, this proposal benefits some children by depriving others, and does so by taking money away from adults who need further education to improve their lives, care for their families, and revitalize their communities. “Studies show that more literate parents produce more successful children,” says Doyle. Yet this funding system creates a divisive and destructive conflict between children’s schools and adult schools, even though their goals are complementary.

Adult schools need to be taken out of Weighted Student Formula and out of Flexibility. We need a dedicated funding stream in order to continue providing crucial services, and we urge our representatives to oppose any budget that eliminates our funding. We can find solutions to California’s budget crisis that raise the revenues needed to fund Adult Education and other public services that meet the basic needs of our communities.

About San Mateo Adult School

San Mateo Adult Education is a school of 2,000 ADA, and over 14,000 annual enrollments. We are a service of the San Mateo Union High School District to the communities of San Bruno, Millbrae, Burlingame, Hillsborough, San Mateo, and Foster City. We are committed to fulfilling the mandate of Adult Education in California by directing resources to serving those traditionally underserved; especially those disadvantaged economically or academically.