CCAE Bay Section Winter Conference

This Saturday, February 23rd, CCAE will hold its Bay Section Winter Conference in Berkeley.

Here's the lowdown about it:

Join adult education professionals from all over the Bay Area at the Bay Section Winter Conference & Excellence Awards on Saturday, February 23, 2013. This annual event will be hosted by the Bay Section at Berkeley Adult School from 9:00 a.m. to 2:15 p.m.

We are fortunate to experiment this year with co-locating at Berkeley Adult School on Saturday, February 23, 2013 with OTAN’s annual Technology and Distance Learning Symposium.  With adult education legislation being authored by Senator Liu, and the Weighted Student Funding formula nipping at our heels, our organized advocacy this spring will be more important than ever before and that will be one theme of the conference.  And of course we’ll have a variety of workshops for teachers focusing on transition program/instructional themes.

The Governor’s Budget proposal to shift adult education to the California Community Colleges probably got your attention.  What does this mean for California Adult Schools?  How do we organize to respond?  Ultimately decisions will be made in the state legislature.  What legislation is proposed?  How do we advocate for our programs and students?   The CCAE Bay Section Winter Conference & Excellence Awards will present information, question-answer sessions, and more importantly, a call to action, as we organize to make our voices heard in Sacramento. 

AND in addition!! This year we are co-locating with the annual OTAN Technology and Distance Learning Symposium, where there will lots of high interest workshops on the use of technology. 

Conference Workshops

• Bridging the Gap: Developing Transition Programs for English Language Learners
• Student Leadership and Advocacy Roundtable
• Revamping ABE as the Hub of Transition to College and Career
• Practical Paths to Goals for School and Work: Language and Practices for Students' Next Steps
• Adult Education Publications for Education and Outreach
• Organizing at the Local Level; Advocating for Adult Schools
• Starting from Scratch: an ESL Career and Transition Center in 3 Hours a Week
• Credit Recovery through Hybrid Distance Learning
• Becoming College and Career Ready: Best Practices and Additional Resources for Our Adult Learners

Extra Bonus!  We are co-located with the OTAN Technology and Distance Learning Symposium: ePortfolios, Mobile Devices in Adult Education, Open Source for Online Education and 12 (!) more workshops on technology and adult education.

I will be at the Roundtable - so if you have ideas to share about student leadership and advocacy - please let me know by posting a comment here or emailing me at cyn.eagleton at gmail.

In so many ways, we finally have a seat at the table.

Now we just need to show up and speak up.

Presentation on Privatization Wed Oct 17

Reminder:

Wednesday, October 17th, from 3:30 to 5:00 pm, at the San Mateo Adult School, in Room 42, there will be a presentation and discussion on the privatization of education hosted by the Teachers Union AFT Local #4681.

Jack Gerson will speak on the subject and field questions.

Click here to read the full post on the subject.

If you can't make the event, you can catch it on video later.  We will post it here.

You can also watch this video, which includes Jack Gerson and others speaking on the same topic.

The Privatization of Public Education - Presentation & Discussion

The AFT Teacher's Union, Local # 4681    Presents:

A Presentation & Discussion on
the Privatization of Public Education

Wednesday, October 17, 3:30 PM

San Mateo Adult School, Room 42

789 E. Poplar Ave, San Mateo, CA 

The San Mateo Adult School is next to San Mateo High School,

between Humboldt and Delaware

Presenter:   Jack Gerson, 30 year Oakland high school teacher (now retired), member of the Oakland Education Association, writer and speaker on education issues, one of the leaders of the Lakeview Elementary school struggle to prevent the closure of Oakland schools. 

Note for those who can't attend:

We will be videotaping the events - and will post the video here.

Also:  Consider forming your own discussion group to discuss the following questions and any other questions that come up for you around the topic of public versus private.

Some of the questions posed by Adult School teachers: 

Who are the major players in the privatization movement, and what evidence is there to show what they are doing?

How do you answer those who say, public schools are not all good & charter schools are not all bad.  

What do you say to parents who send their kids to charter schools because the public schools are not doing a good job for their children.

Are there progressive charter schools?      How much privatization is too much?

What can you do when the desired benefits of public education begin to slip away? 

We are playing catch-up to a well-orchestrated hijack of public education. How do we ever catch up to their well-organized coalition and strategy?  

How do we fight against something labeled "reform" without coming off as naysayers only defending the status quo?

We've been thrown on the defensive. How do we take reform in a positive direction as opposed to a negative one?  How do we take the offensive in demanding what we know is right for students and the community?

How do we generate the public will for the funding to support public education at a much more adequate level?

Are there better arguments against austerity than general statements such as we are a rich state or corporations don't pay their share?

What's the difference between a charter school and a magnet school?

Town Hall On Education

Assemblyman Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo, will host a Town Hall Meeting on education Saturday with State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson and San Mateo County Superintendent of Schools Anne E. Campbell.

The Town Hall will take place Saturday, Oct. 6 from 8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. at the San Mateo City Hall Council Chambers, located at 330 W 20th Ave. in San Mateo.

With the 2012-2013 school year underway, Hill, Torlakson and Campbell are calling together parents, teachers, and school administrators for a discussion about the state of education – and its future -- in California and the community.

Hill will facilitate the conversation among the school chiefs and community members, who have been invited to bring their concerns and ideas to the forum.

The San Mateo Patch

<http://sanmateo.patch.com/articles/jerry-hill-to-hold-education-town-hall-in-san-mateo>

Teachers 4 Social Justice Conference

This weekend, Oct 6 & 7, 2012, Teachers 4 Social Justice will hold their Annual Conference in San Francisco.

Registration is open.

Keynote speakers are Sonia Nieto and Sean Arce.

This quote from Sonia Nieto will give you a feel for the ideals of Teachers 4 Social Justice:

"Although for over a century our nation has advanced the
ideal that a high-quality and excellent public education is the
birthright of all children, our schools cannot fulfill this ambitious
and noble purpose unless all of us—parents, policymakers, and
the general public—commit ourselves to sustaining education as
a public trust and a promise to future generations. "

This conference is open and welcomes any and all of the following:

• Classroom Teachers
• Paraprofessionals, Administrators, Support Personnel
• Parents and Youth
• After-school Youth Workers and Youth Workers in general
• Credential Candidates
• Aspiring Educators
• The Public!!

Come and get educated about education.  Share your knowledge, wisdom and questions.

Strengthen yourself by spending time with others who care about public education.

Sharpen your wits and skills through discussions and workshops.

In times of crisis, it is easy to feel alone.

But we are not alone.

Act on that truth by attending this conference or through some other action.

Public education is about the group and in California that is a very big group, indeed.


Note:  It's a very busy weekend in San Francisco, so public transit is highly recommended.

Forum on Student Actions Worldwide

There's so much going in education right now, it's hard to keep up.  And definitely hard for me to keep up in terms of posting it all!  I'll do my best to caught up in the next few days.

Here's info about a great opportunity to hear how people around the world are attempting to maintain, regain, and/or make a case for quality public education.

Around the world, everyday people know without it, it's like walking miles without shoes or building a house without tools.  Sure, it can be done.  But education makes a good life and a good future more possible for more people in more places than any single other thing.

International Student Solidarity Forum

Where: City College of San Francisco - Ocean Campus, Student Union, City Cafe
When: 11am - 5pm, Saturday, September 29

How Much Trouble Is Trouble Worth?

From the New York Times, comes this recent article, "Enrollment Off in Big Districts, Forcing Layoffs," which details the connection between charter schools and trouble in public education.

Some might say that the increase in charter schools is a result of trouble in public education and they have their points.

But ultimately, the question we must ask ourselves is:

Do we or don't we want a healthy public education system?

And given the fact the all branches of our public education system - K-12, Adult Education, Community College, State College and University - are sickened,

Is it worth the trouble it will take to restore our system to health?

Trouble - that's the real issue here, isn't it?

There is trouble in our educational system.

And it will take cause us some trouble - some effort - to repair it.

It might not be "fun." 

It will be meaningful.  There will be reward in both the work and the result.

But some of the work will be difficult.

And we are a culture that has come to forget the joys to be found in work.

We seek our joy elsewhere.

In distraction.

But work there is to be done and the question is how and where we do it.

If we don't, our troubles will worsen and eventually, there won't be enough distraction to relieve us of the pain they will cause us.

So let's think of what we really want.

A sound public education system with the mission to serve everyone and create a thriving economy, a healthy community, and a high level of civic particpation?

Or an expanding for-profit education system that doesn't have a mission to serve everyone?

If you are interested in learning more about the privatization of education, you can attend the upcoming Labor Fest workshop:

Who is Behind Privatization of Public Education?

July 29, Sunday, 10:00 AM  -- Free
518 Valencia  - near 16th St, in San Francisco  

Education, Privatization, Bill Gates, Broad, KIPP, Pearson And The Gulen Schools
A massive national and international organized plan to privatize education has been implemented over several decades. Billionaires, such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Broad Foundation and the Pearson corporation among others, have infiltrated hundreds of governmental bodies including school boards, city councils and our local, state and regional governments. They seek to turn our education system into a profit center worth tens of billions of dollars. This also includes the Gulen Islamic cult led by Imam Fethullah Gulen, which runs the largest chain of charters in the United States funded by public money.  We will also look at the criminal conflicts that have allowed politicians to personally benefit from using their public positions to profit from their votes and actions. This forum will look at how this has come about, who did it, how it is affecting us and who is profiting from it at the cost of public education and finally how to stop this attack on our public education system.

Speakers:

Madeline Mueller, Professor SF City College, AFT2121

Susan Miesenhouse, CFA CSU Longbeach

Kathleen Carroll, Lawyer and Whistleblower At Commission On Teacher Credentialing

Bruce Neuberger, AFT 4681 San Mateo Adult School

Sharon Higgins, Researcher and Blogger On Charters, Parents Across America

Sponsored By United Public Workers For Action  www.upwa.info