CFT Local 4681 Urges Speaker Rendon to Increase Funding for Adult Education

San Mateo Adult School Federation of Teachers

789 E. Poplar Ave.

San Mateo, CA 94401

Anthony Rendon, Speaker of the Assembly

Attention:  Rick Simpson

State Capitol

Room 219

Sacramento, CA 95814

 May 21, 2016

Dear Speaker Rendon:

We are writing to urge you to increase adult education funding from $500 million to $750 million in this year’s budget. California adult schools received $754 million in funding in 2007. Our budgets were cut drastically during the recession, and adult schools are the only public education system whose funding has not been restored.

Also during the recession, school districts were allowed to take money from adult schools. Many districts closed their adult schools outright, while others cut adult school budgets by 50%, 75%, 95%. Oakland adult school, for example, had 25,000 students before the recession and now has less than 1,200.

Even before the recession, adult schools were the most efficient public education system in the state. We educated 1.2 million students at a cost of just $754 million, which is less than 1/10^th of what community colleges currently receive to educate only twice the number of students. And that was before our budgets were cut. Now we have only $500 million, and we’re sharing that with community college adult education under our new consortia, as well as paying administrative costs for the consortia. Adult schools do a lot with a little.

The extra $250 million is urgently needed to restore programs like Oakland’s that were cut so drastically, to reopen adult schools that were closed, and to provide adult education in areas where residents don’t have access to adult education, such as in some parts of the Central Valley.

There is currently a bill to increase adult education funding sponsored by Asm. Patty Lopez, AB 1846. Whether this bill makes it through committee or not, you can ensure funding by putting the additional $250 million into this year’s budget. We strongly urge you to do so. Thank you for your support.

The San Mateo Adult School Federation of Teachers, California Federation of Teachers local 4681

Bruce Neuburger, President

David Doneff, Vice President

Cynthia Eagleton, Secretary

CFT Resolution 4 "Ensure Adult Education Exists in Best and Fullest Capacity" Passes at the CFT 2016 State Conference

In mid January, CFT Local 4681 of San Mateo Adult School wrote and passed a resolution about Adult Education.  You can the Local 4681 resolution in full here.   Local 4681 then took their resolution, titled, "Resolution to Ensure that Adult Education Exists in Best and Fullest Capacity" to the CFT Adult Education Commission on January 23rd.   The Adult Education Commission considered it, made some alterations to it - primarily shortening it - kept the same title, and then passed it.

CFT Adult Education Commission members at their January 23rd, 2016 meeting.

Chair Jack Carroll is in the center bac.  Lily Adlawan, center front,

is the Local 4681 member who brought the resolution to the meeting.

Kathy Jasper, in the red Adult Education Matters t-shirt, is an AEC member

and also a CFT Vice President in the CFT State Executive Council.

Both resolutions - different with the same name and the same intention - were submitted to the CFT 2016 State Convention. 

At the convention, Local 4681 President Bruce Neuberger, Vice President David Doneff, and myself, Secretary Cynthia Eagleton met with members of the Adult Education Commission and agreed on a compromise position.  Resolution 3, the Local 4681 version, was withdrawn from consideration.  Resolution 4, with one amendment (the line, "and especially, more money for high need areas" in the "be it resolved" section), was submitted and passed in the Professional Issues: Early Childhood/K12 Committee and then voted first to the floor of the General Assembly - where it was resoundingly passed on Saturday, March 12th.

Hooray!

Thanks to all who worked to write and pass this resolution.  May it bring increased understanding of the value of Adult Education and increased support.

Notice that in the "be it resolved" section it advocates for the passage of legislation which supports any of these points.

AB1846, here we come.

Here is the resolution as passed, in full:

Hit the link to see it.

Mario Gomez: From ESL Student to High School Diploma - with Hard Work, Dedication, and San Mateo Adult School

Mario Gomez graduated in June with a High School Diploma story.  His story, here in his own words, is powerful testament to the strength of himself and his family and the value of Adult Education.

My name is Mario Gomez, and I firmly believe that the importance of education is something that we learn at the young age.

I came from a humble family in Guatemala. Neither of my parents had an opportunity to attend high school, and faced many struggles in their lives. When I was five years old my single mother left me with my relatives in Guatemala, and she decided to come looking for better opportunities in the United States. Even though I spent most of my childhood without my parents, I never felt alone because I had the love of my relatives. They made a commitment early in my life to do everything in the correct way within their power to instill in me a love of learning and an understanding of the importance of hard work and dedication.

My childhood was not easy, but I overcame all the bad moments to gain more life experiences, and all my mistakes were lessons. I moved to the United States in 2008 at the age of 22, and everything was so different from my country and it was a new challenge in my life. My main concern was, where I could learn English? My mother told me about the San Mateo Adult School and its great programs and she encouraged me to attend the English classes. When I started to attend the school, I was afraid to communicate, but I learned that I am the only person responsible for my success. I remember when one of my teachers told me, “Mario, no matter how many mistakes you make or how slow you progress. You are still way ahead of everyone who isn’t trying. You have to fight through some bad days to earn the best days of your life.”



Those words inspired to keep going in school. At the same time, I met great teachers in the school who believed in my potential and they always encouraged me to pursue my dreams.

Once I completed my studies in the ESL program, l decided to take the opportunity to enroll in the High School Diploma Program. During my long path in the high school diploma, I learned the importance of studying, hard work and dedication. Also inspired me to help the school by serving on the student council as board member because I wanted to give back what the school has done for me.

One of my childhood dreams is to work for a company or organization that helps people and I decided that my next goal is to study psychology or nursing at Cañada College because “I want to help and inspire people because people will rarely remember what you did for them, but they will always remember how you made them feel, and I learn from my own experience that life is not about making others happy; life is about sharing your happiness with others. “

 

Mario and Mr. T

Family, teachers, school administrators, friends and of course my fellows graduates, I want to thank you all of you for support that you have given us to reach this point in our lives. We couldn’t have done it without you. Thank you and I wish you the best in your near future.

 

 

GED and High School Diploma Success Stories

From San Mateo County Times (July 2015) Columnist Carolyn Livengood,
a story of why Adult Education matters:

Proud San Mateo Adult School 2015 Graduates
Photo Credit: Tom Jung

San Mateo Adult School awards 44 high school diplomas, 31 GED certificates

San Mateo Adult School awarded 44 high school diplomas and 31 GED certificates at its annual graduation ceremony held June 17 for graduates ranging in age from 17 to 51 years old this year.



Mr. T and Graduate
Photo Credit:  Tom Jung

About 180 people, including 24 of the 75 total graduates, attended the annual graduation ceremony held June 17 at the College of San Mateo. Graduate Rebeca Zuleta, who earned two scholarships, and Director Lawrence "Larry" Teshara, known affectionately as "Mr. T" by the students, welcomed them to the event.

The adult school, part of the San Mateo Union High School District, is at The SMART Center in San Mateo. Scholarship awards, totaling $15,050 were presented to 15 students. The winners, their city of residence, and their scholarship donors are:

* Rebeca Zuleta, of Fremont (formerly San Mateo), John and Lisa Nelson.
* Megan Tzoc, Burlingame, William E. and Janet J. Price.
* Jose Pina, Redwood City, San Mateo Masonic Lodge #226.
* Marlon Ticas, San Bruno, Burlingame Masonic Lodge No. 400.
* Debra Benavides, Redwood City; Martha Contreras, San Mateo; Carmen Rivera, Burlingame; and Rebeca Zuleta; Burlingame Bodies of the Ancient & Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry.
* Nathan Nack, San Mateo, Jenny Bratton/GED.
* Mario Gomez, San Mateo, Rotary Club of Foster City.
* Felipe Diaz Vega, San Mateo; Ai-Chu Huang, Millbrae. and Darlyng Lopez, San Bruno; Lynda Mathe Memorial;
* Brian Zamora, San Mateo, Steven Paul Friedman Foundation.
* Isabella Cavett, Belmont, Golden Gate Commandery No.16.
* Fernando Zelaya, San Mateo, Shipman Family (in honor of Lawrence Teshara).



Mario Gomez speaking at Graduation 2015
Photo Credit:  Tom Jung

The student speakers, who shared their stories of overcoming challenges in their life in order to graduate, were: Mario Gomez, Debra Benavides, Jose Pina, Brian Zamora, Isabella Cavett, and Fernando Zelaya.

"The San Mateo Adult School provided an alternative for me at a point in my life when I thought all else was gone," Fernando Zelaya said. "I recently moved from Mississippi to California to finish up my last year of school. I started my senior year attending San Mateo High School.

"I never had the problem of attending school, but this year nothing seemed to go right for me, especially at home. Adapting to a new school, new classmates, new family members, and having to work to pay bills, all these challenges coming my way and I didn't know what to do. My grades were significantly going down, my attendance was getting worse by the weeks, and stress was getting worse by the day.

Graduate speaking
Photo Credit:  2015

"Soon I was called by the counselor of my school to talk about my situation. I was given the opportunity to finish my work on my own times. After a few weeks of attending, I realized I wasn't the only one with personal problems there. I saw the determination in each one of us. I saw that no matter what was happening outside of school, we were still going to strive for our success. Along with the awesome staff at San Mateo Adult School working hard to help us achieve our goals, I think I can say that we have made it here today."



Robert Graffin and Graduate Mario Gomez
Photo Credit:  Tom Jung

Robert Griffin, clerk, San Mateo Union High School District board of trustees, gave closing remarks to the graduates.