All Out For Berkeley Adult School

Destabilization leads to problems.

Destabilization makes an individual, a group, or an institution vulnerable to disease, infiltration, attack, and at worst, death or extinction.

Stabilization not only keeps the individual, group or institution strong, it enables the individual, group or institution to provide shelter, support, and sustenance to others. 

Help or harm - in domino effect.

Hit the "read more" link to see how that plays out in Berkeley.

Data and Decisions: 2011 Little Hoover Report

The following testimony was given in 2011.  I am posting it here because I think it contains important data and important conclusions.  You can agree or argue with the conclusions.  You can use the data to better understand where we've come from and decide where we should best go next.

California Department of Education,

Adult Education Testimony Little Hoover Commission 

Respectfully submitted by Dr. Patrick Ainsworth,

Director of Secondary, Career, and Adult Learning Division

and Ms. Debra Jones, Administrator, Adult Education Office June 23, 2011 

Thank you for the opportunity to address the Little Hoover Commission and to share the vital issues surrounding adult education and the impacts of the current budget reductions. Adult Education has a long history in California serving adults since 1856. The first classes were taught in the basement of Old St. Mary’s Cathedral in San Francisco to Chinese immigrants. Since that time, the program has grown, and in 2008 adult education served 1.2 million adults. 

The current fiscal crisis has impacted hundreds of thousands of adults in California. Flexibility has redirected the Adult Education budget of 634 million dollars to the kindergarten through grade twelve (K–12) system to be used for any educational purpose. School districts and school boards have had to make difficult decisions in this time of limited resources. It is estimated that half of the 2011 adult education budget was spent on adult education.  

Hit the "read more" link to get the full scoop.