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.

CFT: Adult Educators Facing Uncertain Future

From the December 12 "Inside CFT" e-newsletter:

CFT fights for Adult Educators facing uncertain future

Adult educators across the state face an uncertain future.  The Local Control Funding Formula eliminated funding for adult education, and districts are only required to fund it through the end of this school year.  AB 86 legislation created new structures to fund adult ed in both K-12 and community colleges, but the process currently leaves teachers and students with more questions than answers.  The committees formed to answer those questions excluded educators, staff and students from the beginning.

Hit the "read more" link to learn more.

Must Read SYAS Blog Post Series on Community Colleges and Adult Schools: How They Work and Who Does What

The always chock full of facts and insight Save Your Adult School Blog has a new series on

Community Colleges and Adult Schools:  How They Work and Who Does What.

The series is a must-read.


For that reason, I'm providing links to post in the series and a few pull-out quotes here. 

I urge you to read the series in full.  (As posts are added to the series, I will add links here.)

Part 1   The Community Colleges Credit and Noncredit Programs.

"The “Ending California’s Public Adult Education…” presentation is well worth reading, as it explains why the noncredit/adult school model is under attack. While the model welcomes all students, it is particularly helpful for adults who are not only busy, but dealing with the stresses of poverty. In this type of class, students who had little formal schooling as children or never did well in the traditional school system find a home and begin to fulfill their potential. But with no grades, no credentials or degrees, no hard beginning and end date, it doesn’t look much like what we typically think of as “school.” It’s that “focus on learning” that throws people. Learning? What about grades and tests?
But anyone who has taught this type of class can tell you it works, and furthermore, there are standardized test results and other data that demonstrate its effectiveness. There is more than one way to educate people, and not everyone benefits from the formal school model."

Part 2  Adult Schools:  Community Interest and Mandated Programs

"Adults with low levels of literacy are exactly the students both adult school mandated programs and community college noncredit programs were designed to serve. With more than five million people in need of these services, the efforts of both adult school mandated programs and community college noncredit programs are sorely needed, and both must be significantly expanded, if the educational needs of California’s adults are to be adequately met."

Part 3  Who's Doing What

"The LAO report does not demonstrate much “overlap” between community colleges and adult schools. A concern that there is “overlap” or duplication of effort between community colleges and adult schools is one of the driving forces behind proposals to reform the adult education system, including the AB86 Regional Consortium process. Governor Brown even proposed to eliminate adult schools in 2013 because of this supposed overlap. The LAO report mentions “overlap” as an issue, but the breakdown on page 11 of the report does not show much overlap at all. Instead, it suggests that a division of labor between adult schools and community colleges has already naturally evolved, and that the consortia will work best if they plan to build on the division of labor that already exists, rather than reinventing the wheel."

Part 4  The Differences May Surprise You - How Immigration, Parking, Standardized Testing, and More Affect Adult Schools and Community Colleges

"Adult schools are school, and community colleges are college. This may seem so simple it shouldn’t even have to be stated, but it plays out in surprising ways. Because one is part of the K-12 school system and the other is an institution of higher learning, adult schools and community colleges interact very differently with the immigration system, have different approaches for making education affordable for low income students, and are even differently distributed throughout the state."

Set Your Clocks to January 9

January 9th, 2015. 

A Friday.

That's when Governor Brown is expected to release his Budget Proposal.

The one that will say whether things will get easier or harder for K12 Adult Schools.


Here's the full scoop from CCAE on what that might mean for Adult Schools and what need to do in the time leading up to his announcement.

By the way, membership to CCAE is on half-price special for new members right now.  Your membership makes their advocacy possible.

A New Day is Upon Us

 

In just a few short weeks, K12 adult education will have a much clearer understanding of the future and, by my estimation, it’s looking much brighter on the horizon—a new day is upon us. In the past two months we’ve been working vigorously to affect the January proposal before our window of opportunity closed. It appears that window is now closed as I’ve been notified that the Governor is in the Department of Finance making the final call on each of the various budget items as I prepare this update for you. While the window seems to be closed now, we’re keeping the curtains open. While nothing is certain until we see the Governor’s budget proposal on Friday, January 9th, we are feeling quite good about our prospects for the budget proposal and in it, our fate.

Hit the "read more" link to learn more.

Students Get A Seat At The Table

Fantastic news!

Students will (finally) get a seat at the decision-making table.

There will be two student reps amongst the new AB86 Workgroup Configuration.

Hit the "read more" link to learn more.

Edsource Commentary: "Adult Schools Need Dedicated Funding"

In Edsource, a commentary by Karen Arthur and Kristen Pursely:

Adult schools need dedicated funding

December 4, 2014 | By Kristen Pursley and Karen Arthur / commentary | 2 Comments  

In his 2013 budget, Gov. Jerry Brown included a provision to safeguard existing adult schools from further cuts and closures. The “maintenance of effort” clause mandated that school districts maintain their current level of funding for adult education for two years, during the formation of regional consortia, as outlined by Assembly Bill 86.

The maintenance of effort expires at the end of the current school year. Adult schools and community colleges are currently engaged in a regional planning process to create consortia between adult schools and community colleges, with the regions defined by community college districts. Brown has indicated that he intends to provide money for adult education through the regional consortia, although he has not yet spelled out how to do so.

Regional consortia funding would come through the Community College Chancellor’s Office, not through the Department of Education. The governor and the finance department favor this model because it simplifies the budgets of K-12 schools under the Local Control Funding Formula, which permanently eliminated adult education as a protected program.

Brown’s goal of putting “responsibility where it should be,” by eliminating the prescriptive commands from Sacramento, is admirable. However, the educational needs of California’s adults were not considered when this model was adopted – and, not surprisingly, the model would serve them poorly. Simply transferring the money for adult education to community colleges without restrictions will not assure the colleges will actually spend money for this purpose.

Hit the "read more" link to learn more.

The New AB86 Workgroup

The AB86 website now lists the new members of the Workgroup.

Reminder:  The Work Group does the nitty-gritty work.  The Cabinet is the Big Boss.

What's happening in there?

There was no official announcement about this change.  There was no email sent to those of us on the email list.  There is nothing in their November Newsletter.   There was no explanation or announcement of why or how the change was made.

Perhaps the Cabinet, the "Decider," had very good reasons for making these changes.

They did not choose, however, to share them.

They did not choose transparency.

I find that troubling.

Here, in any case, is the information on the AB86 Website:

AB 86 Work Group

The AB 86 Work Group, established by the AB 86 Cabinet, has twelve members, four representing adult education programs in school districts and four representing adult education programs in community colleges. Four staff members, two from the CCCCO and two from the CDE, are also in the Work group. This Work Group will develop a comprehensive Request for Application to fund planning and implementation grants.

If you have comments or questions for the Work Group, we encourage you to use the orange “feedback” button to the left of the page so that your feedback can be properly reviewed.

Below is a listing of the AB 86 Work Group Members:

Name	Organization
John Stanskas	Academic Senate for California Community Colleges
Mike Reese	Association of California Community College Administrators
Rocky Bettar	Association of California School Administrators
	Association of Chief Business Officials*
Cynthia Parulan-Colfer	California Adult Education Administration Association
	California Association of School Business Officials*
Rirchard Hansen	California Community College Independents
S. Craig Justice	California Community Colleges Chief Instructional Officers
Chris Nelson	California Council for Adult Education
Kathy Davis	California Council for Adult Education
	California County Superintendents Educational Services Association*
Jack Carroll	California Federation of Teachers
Teri Burns	California School Boards Association
Tristan Brown	California School Employees Association
Wendy Plew	California Teachers Association
Bob Harper	Campbell Adult and Community Education
Debra Jones	CCCCO Dean, Career Education Practices
Neil Kelly	CCCCO Specialist, Career Education Practices
Carmen Martinez-Calderon	CDE  Coordinated Student Support and Adult Education Division
Shadidi Sai-Maat	CDE Coordinated Student Support and Adult Education Division
Lynette Nyaggah	Community College Association
	Community College League of California*
Kris Fertel	Faculty Association of California Community Colleges
Andrea Rodriguez	LAUSD Division of Adult and Career Education
Candace Lee	LAUSD, Division of Adult and Career Education
Joanne Durkee	Mt. Diablo Adult and Career Education
Donna Burns	Mt. San Antonio College
Greg Schulz	North Orange County Community College District
Erica Leblanc	Santa Monica College
	United Teachers of Los Angeles*

*This organization has not yet named a participant.

You can read another post on this topic here.

In that post, I describe what some of these organizations do.

 

 

Changes in the AB86 Workgroup

Changing of the Guard

The AB86 Workgroup is changing.


 

Background Information

 

AB86 is the law governing the new Regional Consortia System. 

The term "AB86" has come to be used to describe the whole enchilada - the planning process, the people in charge of the planning, etc. 

Here is the official AB86 website which has lots of good and helpful and constantly updated information.

AB86 Has Two Groups

The AB86 Cabinet is the boss group.  The buck stops with them. The Cabinet has 6 members - 3 from the CDE side (K12 Adult Schools) and 3 from the CCCO side (Community Colleges.)

The AB86 Workgroup is under the Cabinet.  The Workgroup is in charge of the nitty gritty stuff - the applications, the reports, and so on.  It has 12 members - again half and half with the CDE/CCCO bit.

AB86 Workgroup Changing

About a week ago, the Cabinet told the Work Group that the Work Group will be changed-up for this next stage which will include reviewing consortia plans and producing the March report for the Legislature.

I do not have full details on this process or the new members.  I wanted to share what I have in the interest of keeping everyone in the loop.  In other words, this the information is the best I have at the moment.  At some point, an official announcement will appear on the AB86 Website.  Until then, here is what I have.  Please read it knowing it is tentative.

 

Groups Invited to Join the New Workgroup (which I suppose doesn't mean they will say yes):

Association of California School Administrators  ACSA includes administrators from all branches of public ed.  Rocky Bettar will be the ACSA Representative on the new Workgroup.

 

Association of Community and Continuing Education From their website, "An Organization of California Community Colleges."  New Representative:  Unknown to me.

California Adult Education Administrators Association   CAEAA is just what it sounds like. CAEAA's Representative will be Cyndi Parulan-Colfer.

 

California Association of School Business Officials  I'm still trying to understand this one.

California Council for Adult Education  CCAE is all about K12 Adult Schools.  Bob Harper and Joanne Durkee, current members of the AB86 Workgroup, are also active in CCAE.   CCAE is made up of Admin, Teachers, Staff, Students, & Community Members.  CCAE Representative: Unknown to me.

 

California Federation of Teachers CFT is the smaller of the two big teachers unions.  They represent many sorts of teachers - K12, Community College, K12 Adult School, Pre-School, as well as Classified Staff, School Nurses, etc.  Jack Carroll will be the CFT Representative on the new Workgroup.  (Note:  I am a member of CFT.)

 

California School Boards Association From their website, "CSBA is the nonprofit education association representing the elected officials who govern public school districts and county offices of education. With a membership of nearly 1,000 educational agencies statewide, CSBA brings together school governing boards, and administrators from districts and county offices of education to advocate for effective policies that advance the education and well-being of the state’s more than 6 million school-age children. A membership-driven association, CSBA provides policy resources and training to members, and represents the statewide interests of public education through legal, political legislative, community and media advocacy."  CSBA Representative:  Unknown to me.

 

California Teachers Association CTA is the bigger of the two big teachers unions.  Unlike CFT, they are teachers only, no classified staff, no school nurses, etc.  UTLA, the Los Angeles Teachers Union, is associated with both CTA and CFT.  The CTA Representative will be Wendy Dillingham-Plew.
 

Community College Academic Senate  This is a group representing Community College faculty.

The Community College Academic Senate seemed to know about this change before others did.  Look to the bit at the end of this post for more info about that.  Also, note:  K12 Adult School Teachers do not have any sort of equivalent body.  There is no Adult School Academic House of Representatives.  Both CFT and CTA - the big teachers unions - represent both Community College and Adult School teachers, as well as K-12 teachers.  UTLA represents teachers in Los Angeles - not the whole state.  UTLA does have a branch that is Adult Ed specific.  In sum, there is no equivalent to the Academic Senate for Adult Schools.  ASCCC Rep:  Unknown to me.

Community College League From their website, "The Community College League of California ("The League") is a nonprofit public benefit corporation whose voluntary membership consists of the 72 local community college districts in California. Within The League are two major organizations which share a common mission, staff and fiscal resources: the California Community College Trustees (CCCT) and the Chief Executive Officers of the California Community Colleges (CEOCCC).  In addition, two other organizations are affiliated with The League: the Association of California Community College Administrators (ACCCA); and the California Community College Classified Senate (CCCCS). The League affiliated organizations have many goals and objectives similar to CCCT and CEOCCC and recognize that the sharing of facilities and some resources helps strengthen those common purposes. Yet it also is recognized that The League affiliate maintains total independence to pursue the objectives of its members which on occasion may be at variance with the positions taken by CCCT and CEOCCC."   Community College League Rep:  Unknown to me.

United Teachers of Los Angeles    The teachers union for Los Angeles which has the biggest Adult School in the state and a branch that is Adult School specific.  UTLA is associated with both CFT and CTA.  UTLA members can join CFT or CTA or both.   UTLA Rep:  Unknown to me.

I believe the current members of the Workgroup can stay on if they so choose.

The ASCCC - Community College Academic Senate - Knew This Change Was Coming

Note:  It seems the Community College Academic Senate - and maybe only the Community Academic Senate - had any idea this change was coming.

In their October 7 President's Update, it says:

After overcoming considerable resistance, the Academic Senate, in conjunction with other state-level faculty organizations, secured permission for ASCCC Noncredit Committee Chair Debbie Klein to attend the AB 86 Summit in Sacramento on October 6 and 7 and to observe this event from a Senate perspective in order to help inform our efforts.  We have also received a promise of adding a faculty representative to the state level AB 86 Workgroup, an oversight body whose lack of faculty representation has been a glaring deficiency. Other efforts are also underway to allow the ASCCC and other faculty groups to take a more prominent role in AB 86 planning oversight in order to provide assistance to local districts whose faculty voice is not being sufficiently included.

Why the ASCCC and maybe only the ASCCC seemed to know about this change, I don't know.

When I learned of the October 7 President's Update bit, I followed up on it by contacting folks who contacted members of the Workgroup. At that time, the Workgroup said the Academic Senate was not being invited.  And yet... clearly, the Academic Senate has been... and at the time, the Academic Senate publically said they had a promise of being invited.  So...  What happened?  I don't know.

Note: You can contact the Workgroup with questions and concerns and I highly recommend that you do.  Often they will answer you back.  Always they will read your email.  In any case, it is good and helpful to keep them in the loop and to ask them to keep us in the loop, as well.

As much as I can, I try to share what I know here.  I believe it is important that we all share information with each other, keeping in mind the common goal of saving, maintaining, and creating the best Adult Education system possible, part of the best Public Education possible in California.

As I have written many times on this blog, none of this is happening in isolation.  All these changes are happening in a larger context of Public Education Reform and Cultural Change.  To really understand things, we need to see the big picture.  We can do that only when we share information each other - because everyone has a special close-up view on one thing and a blind spot on something else.


 

 

 

 

 

 

Splitting CCSF ESL: Proposed and Opposed

City College of San Francisco administration is proposing splitting up the ESL department.

It is important to know what is happening at CCSF because CCSF is essentially the sole provider of Adult Education in San Francisco. You can see the plan for the San Francisco Regional Consortium here. 

San Francisco and San Diego are often presented as models for how a Community College can (or should) deliver Adult Education.

What people often forget is that the Community College system, just like the K12 Adult School system and every other branch of public education, is undergoing reform.  Models being held up as examples may in fact no longer exist - or won't exist for much longer.  It is good to remember our role in this re-forming process.  We have both the right and the responsibility to assess the changes as they are proposed and to speak up about what we think will best serve us as a people.

CCSF has credit ESL and non-credit ESL.  The non-credit is what we generally call "Adult Education." 

The CCSF Administration is for splitting it.

The CCSF Department Chairs are against splitting the ESL department.
 

I will provide more information as I get it.  For now, here is a leaflet against splitting the department.

Save Community ESL!

 

CCSF management is proposing to split the ESL Department into two: ESL Community and ESL Vocational and Credit. This would effectively split ESL Noncredit into two pieces; part of noncredit would be under Community, and the other part of noncredit would be under Vocational and Academic. The reason being given is that two departments will be "more manageable" - rather than academically sound reasons such as excellent instruction, a viable program, and meeting real student needs.

 

Splitting the ESL Department in two is

 

DISRUPTIVE - The ESL Department once was divided into a noncredit "Centers" program and a credit program under the English Department. We have spent over a decade merging the two, and have achieved a seamless program that goes from Literacy to College Composition. Students move along this pathway at their own speed and have teachers who know the entire breadth of the program. Why would anyone want to disrupt this flow? Why would the college want to weaken the ESL program in this manner?

 

CONFUSING - How will students read the schedule? How will they enroll in courses in two different ESLs? How will they know the difference between the two? How would they enroll in a "Community" class at 8:00 a.m. and then a "Vocational" class at 10:00? Many do this effortlessly now. Moving from noncredit to credit is already daunting for students. This proposal would add yet another obstacle.

 

DAMAGING TO STUDENT PROGRESS - Students are now eligible for numerous certificates that include courses that, under this proposal, would be in two separate departments. Noncredit students are already not sufficiently aware of these certificates due to administration's failure to institute them since their inception in 2007. How would they earn certificates if they are split between two separate departments?

 

DISCRIMINATORY - The proposal to split ESL into "Community" and "Vocational and Academic" smacks of limiting the mission of City College to a degree and transfer mill. Relegating the largest part of noncredit to "Community" is a good way to make it easier to abandon these students in the near future. But the people who would be abandoned are the seniors, the recent immigrants, and those who have the least prior education - in other words, those who don't fit the current definition of "Student Success."

 

A whole and integrated ESL Department is

 

HIGH QUALITY - CCSF ESL is a central resource for San Francisco and its language minority inhabitants. If CCSF educates the workforce, ESL provides the support for non-native speakers to benefit from that training. Our minimum qualification for instructors, both credit and noncredit, is a Masters in Teaching English as a Second Language.

 

ACCESSIBLE - Students come first, and our mission is to serve them in ways that will serve them best, at convenient locations and times. We see students as whole human beings and provide them with the instruction they need no matter what the label. We do not differentiate from an administrative point of view: credit or noncredit; vocational or academic.

 

FOCUSED ON STUDENT PATHWAYS - Versatile instructors who move easily between credit and noncredit are the best student advocates for transition from noncredit to credit and noncredit to vocational certificate programs. One department ensures that students move from entry to goal in one straight line.

 

INCLUSIVE - CCSF ESL is open to all. Our mission includes all of the above: community, vocational, academic and several important goals that have not even been mentioned: skills focus, citizenship, bridge-to-vocational courses, and bridge-to-academic courses.

 

 

THIS IS AN IMMEDIATE THREAT - NEGOTIATIONS ARE PROCEEDING QUICKLY RIGHT NOW.

PLEASE CALL OR E-MAIL THE FOLLOWING RESPONSIBLE PARTIES AND TELL THEM TO STOP THE ATTACK ON COMMUNITY E.S.L.

 

Special Trustee with Extraordinary Powers Robert Agrella

bagrella@ccsf.edu          (no phone listed at www.ccsf.edu)

 

Chancellor Arthur Tyler

atyler@ccsf.edu                415 239 3303

 

From the "Things That Are Disturbing" File: David Perdue and Adult Education



Robert Reich, on his Facebook page, shares:

 

“I spent most of my career” outsourcing jobs, said David Perdue, a business executive who’s running for Senate from Georgia in one of the closest-watched and tightest races in the nation. "This is a part of American business, part of any business. Outsourcing is the procurement of products and services to help your business run. People do that all day." He blames America’s jobs losses instead on “bad government policies: tax policy, regulation, even compliance requirements. It puts us at a competitive disadvantage with the rest of the world.”

David Perdue is a Commissioner on the National Commission on Adult Literacy.   He is also CEO of the Dollar General.  And as of November 5, he's a U.S. Senator from Georgia.

There are two big organizations that help shape Adult Ed policy on the national level, NCAL (the National Commission on Adult Literacy), and NCL (the National Coalition for Literacy).

They aren't only the shapers, of course.  Grassroots groups, Teachers Unions, Legislators, Think Tanks, Academics, there are many.  But these two groups definitely have an impact and they work on the national level, which is important. 

More and more, things are flowing in a top down and federal sort of way - Common Core, College & Career Readiness, these are changes flowing from DC.  California is and isn't embracing these changes.  We are a big state with an economy stronger than most of the world's countries.  California doesn't say yes to everything.  It sometimes does things its own way and until the Crash of 2009, it had much stronger and better Adult Education than most states which it funded with its own money - unlike many states.  All that in mind, it is still 1 of 50 states united under a Federal Government which has been changing public education in a number of significant ways.   And where California isn't saying "yes" to changes suggested by the Federal Government, it's making its own changes.  All in all, in California and everywhere else in these United States, public education is changing.

None of that, in and of itself, is good or bad.  It is change.  As always, we need to be awake to what is changing, look it over closely in light of the big picture, and then consider how the changes do or don't benefit our people.  If and where we think the changes are beneficial, we need to nurture and encourage those changes.  If and where we consider them harmful, we need to take steps to arrest the bad and begin the good.

Back to our story, the similarity of the names and acronyms - NCL and NCAL - makes it hard to remember which is which but it's important to try.  They are different in some important ways.  I won't try to detail the differences here.  I'll doing so to my "List of One Hundred Posts I Need to Write."

I will note that NCL and NCAL are similar in an important way.  Both have received big funds from the Dollar General Literacy Foundation.  History of NCL here.  History of NCAL here.

From the "Adult Ed Reform" post on the Alliance for California Adult Schools Blog:

National Commission on Adult Literacy - The Council grew out of two background assessment and planning projects carried out in early 2001. Funding for that work came from Harold W. McGraw, Jr., The Ford Foundation, and The Carnegie Corporation. One project assessed the status and lingering problems of adult literacy, following the work of the Business Council for Effective Literacy (BCEL); the other explored the feasibility of establishing a blue-ribbon commission on adult literacy. Both projects developed lengthy research and action agendas, and the rationale for them. CAAL was formed to build on that foundation, including the work of BCEL, its predecessor organization.  Chairman of NCAL, David Perdue (Dollar General Literacy Foundation)


I created my own powerpoint on Adult Ed Reform for the Grassroots Summit last summer in June 2014 but have yet to post it on this blog.

One thing that is always strange and interesting to me is the involvement of Dollar Stores in Adult Education.  Both of the big Dollar stores have been involved in Adult Ed philanthropy/policy (Dollar General and Family Dollar).  Dollar General - David Perdue's company - is now in pursuit of Family Dollar so we may be down to just one horse in the race very soon. 

On the one hand, I can see that a Dollar Store corporation would understand the struggles of people who, because of poverty, are very likely to shop at Dollar Stores.  Poverty has a strong connection with lack of education.  And yet, the fact that David Perdue, CEO of Dollar General, considers outsourcing something to be proud of... Wow, how does this work?  How does outsourcing connect with a place to buy cheap stuff made by people working very hard jobs probably without a lot of work and safety rules connect with Adult Education?  If you are providing people with a place to buy cheap stuff and you are sending jobs overseas, what kind of education might you suggest would be best for the country?

Who benefits?  That was the question that drove my own powerpoint on Adult Ed Reform and I suppose at some point I should post it here.

In the meantime, I wanted to be sure you knew about Mr. Perdue.

You can put it in your "Things That Are Disturbing" file where it will hopefully compost into "Great Ideas For How to Increase Democracy and Public Engagement in Great Public Education."

Such things do happen.

From this...

...to this... It happens!

CCAE November Communicator: The Countdown Begins

For the full November Communicator, click here.  Here is the Legislative Update:

 

The Countdown Begins

 

The countdown has begun - 11 weeks to the release of the January FY 15-16 budget proposal that will provide insight in to the future of adult education.  While we believe we have made significant headway with the Department of Finance (DOF) this fall, we are not likely to know the details until the proposal is released, January 9th. This is certainly unnerving for us all, without question.  Nevertheless, we put a strong strategic advocacy plan in place to help impact the outcome and are feeling very good about it. At the local level you have stepped up in a big way - garnering support from your superintendents, boards, community, elected officials, and more. At the state level, we have also been working hard to put together a strong coalition to support K12 adult education and fight for a budget plan that ensures stability for the K12 system ahead of the March 15th layoff notice deadline. We've held countless meetings with stakeholders, elected officials, legislative budget and policy staff, DOF, and more.

 

In terms of the key issues we've been focused on, they include:

• Focused on a Dedicated, Stable Funding Structure for K-12 Adult Schools 
• Transition Year - Maintain K12 Capacity
• Utilizing Existing State Fiscal Infrastructures to Apportion Funding
• AB 86 Plans Inform & Drive Funding

We believe these are critical components of a workable January budget proposal. As a matter of fact, we have prepared and put forth our own CCAE and CAEAA proposal that addresses these key issues in a manner that is consistent with the goals of the Administration and DOF - win / win! Our proposal would provide for FY 15-16 to be a transition year whereby roughly $350 million would be taken from the DOF-proposed $500 million pot to maintain capacity in the K12 system - first and foremost. This will help ensure stability for existing capacity in K12 adult schools by giving school districts a clear sense of what they can expect to include in their FY 15-16 budgets for adult education and avoid the need to issue layoff notices by the March 15th deadline. The $150 million leftover would go towards addressing the needs and gaps outlined in the AB 86 regional plans across the state. Certainly, $500 million is nowhere close to sufficient to meet the needs that exist today, but it is a start and we have the commitment from Finance to allocate at least that in January's proposal. At this point, the critical component is to ensure stability and avoid losing current capacity - we believe this approach helps achieve that in the transition year. Additionally, we are proposing that the FY 15-16 budget also allocate the FY 16-17 funding and set up a process to decide how best to distribute that funding to the regions and at the local level based on the AB 86 regional plans starting in the second year. Starting such planning early, with an idea of what school districts will have to budget with going in to the next budget cycle, will help provide greater clarity in budgeting year over year. 

 

And while we believe we have made considerable headway in working with DOF, we are not out of the woods yet. One key issue that remains a challenge is the flow of resources. DOF continues to be interested in an approach whereby funding would be provided to the Community College Chancellor's Office (CCCO) for distribution to the regional fiscal agents who would then distribute the funding to the consortium partners. We continue to have serious concerns with such a distribution approach. We believe strongly that such an approach would run the risk of distancing adult education programs from K12 districts. Regional plans build upon the unique identity of K12 adult schools and so it is imperative that they continue to be tied to CDE and their individual school districts. This connection is critically important in terms of access for the students the K12 system serves; the learning mechanisms associated with basic skills needs that builds upon the K12 model of teaching to ensure proper uptake of the education that is more closely aligned to K12 curriculum; staffing issues related to contracts, oversight, development, etc.; accreditation; federal oversight and matching; and more.  Should the direct fiscal connection to CDE and the individual school districts be lost, K12 adult schools will lose their identity and the undeniable benefit to the students we serve will be destroyed as school districts are distanced from support of their adult schools. This preventable wedge would potentially reduce the access so many of our students rely on.

 

It is for these reasons that CCAE and CAEAA have offered a proposal that would model the distribution of funds similar to the Perkins funding model whereby CDE is provided the allocation from the federal government and with an Interagency Agreement with the CCCO provides the CC allocation to the Chancellor's office to distribute to its community college districts. Similarly, our proposal would provide the funding, consistent with the Perkins model and DOF's interest in providing the funding to the CCCO's office, to the CCCO's office and require an Interagency Agreement with CDE to allow CDE to in turn distribute the funds directly to school districts using its existing fiscal infrastructures. We believe we are on solid ground with such a proposal that would avoid the bureaucracy and concerns with a local fiscal agent and utilize existing fiscal infrastructure through CDE and the CCCO - effective and efficient.

 

In terms of moving forward over the next 11 weeks, we urge you to continue your efforts at the local level to garner support for maintaining K12 adult schools and current capacity. And for those schools that have not yet finalized their Nascar or Superintendent letters, we ask you to wrap them up and send them in to the Governor within the week. Finance will be presenting their proposal to him very soon, and we want to be sure he is hearing from across the state. Additionally, continue to meet with your local legislators as we move towards January.  Of note, some districts will have new members elected as of November 4th - be sure to know who your members are and for those that are new we urge you to work quickly to bring them up to speed on our efforts and what lies ahead. In terms of specific talking points for your legislators, we recommend the following key points be made:

 

1) Maintain & Stabilize K-12 Capacity

2) Transition Year w/ Maintenance of Capacity Funding for K12 Out of FY 15-16 Allocation

3) Perkins Model Distribution - CDE Allocation to K12 Districts through Interagency Agreement w/ CCCO

 

Again, we feel like we are on very solid ground with our proposal, which we have shared with DOF and the Legislature. Keep up the great work at the local level, and rest assured we won't rest until K12 adult schools are stabilized. We have a strong, supportable plan that protects the critical access to our programs and services and will continue to push forward with advocacy to ensure its intent is included in the January proposal. Strength in numbers!

 

To access the funding proposal and related documents, as well as the list of cc emails for your Nascar and Superintendent letters, you can visit www.ccaestate.org.

 

 

"I'll take a stable budget for K12 Adult Schools, please,
for 300... "

 

 

Montebello Adult Ed Advocates October Newsletter

From the Adult Education Advocates in the Montebello Community, the October Newsletter:

ADULT EDUCATION

A Newsletter on Adult Education in California

October 2014

SB 173 ADDS TO THE MIX ON CONSORTIA PLANNING

With significant amendments, Senator Carol Liu’s SB 173 passed the legislature and was approved by Governor Brown. As amended, its provisions add to the factors applicable to the present AB 86 work, calling for the following:

• Requires the California Department of Education (CDE) and the state Chancellor’s Office (CO)
to issue assessment and policy guidelines to be used for purposes of student placement in adult
education.

• Requires CDE and CO to issue policy recommendations to the legislature regarding a comprehensive accountability system for adult education.

• Requires CDE and CO to issue recommendations on adult education fees.

• Requires the CO, in conjunction with CDE, to annually report on courses and student
enrollments in adult education, and report on deficits in course offerings based on needs
identified by adult education consortia.

• Requires the Commission on Teacher Credentialing and the Academic Senate for California
Community Colleges to submit recommendations by July 1, 2016 on the reciprocity of adult
education instructors in K-12 districts and community colleges.

The good news is that with the enactment of SB 173, the legislature and Governor are affirming that the work of the adult education consortia is being taken seriously. SB 173 further affirms that a new adult education program will begin on July 1, 2015, and the continued work of the consortia will be needed to implement the AB 86 consortia plans. The added factor of the SB 173 accountability also will serve to inform state decision makers on the effectiveness of adult education!programs.

What to Do . . .

MULTIPLE APPROACHES NEEDED TO INFORM LEGISLATORS

As 2015 approaches and the state legislature and governor begin their work, it becomes critical that all state legislators are aware of what is at stake for adult education and that they get information on your programs and your AB 86 consortium work. One approach to informing legislators will not be enough.

Versions of the following are needed: Visits to local offices; Invitations for legislators to see your
programs and participate in your events; and Letters from staffs and students.

The current reality in the state legislature is that an increasing percentage of members comes from families that are much like those of students in adult education. The new President Pro Tem of the State Senate, Kevin de Leon, in his inaugural speech, praised his mother for overcoming significant barriers in raising her family. The support is there in the legislature, but members need the information to become fellow advocates for adult education.

Developed by Adult Education Advocates in the Montebello Community

October 2014 Webinar And Other Stuff From CCAE To Help Us Cross the Finish Line

Available now on the CCAE website - and right here, too! - information to help us get K12 Adult Schools safely across the budget finish line!


CCAE and CAEAA Webinar about the current (October 2014) situation in Adult Ed

CCAE Adult Ed Budget Funding Proposal

CCAE FY 15-16 Fiscal Structure-Challenges of a Single Funding Stream

CCAE FY 15-16 Allocation Timeline


Friendly reminder: 

     CCAE's Budget Proposal is a proposal to the Governor, not an offer from the Governor.  If you like CCAE's Budget Proposal and think it would serve the people of California, take action to connect with Sacramento.  Tell them why this budget proposal would help stabilize Adult Education and K12 Adult Schools which in turn stabilize our state.

Contact the Governor and the folks on this email list from CCAE.

Pull together a Nascar letter.


CCAE 2015 Leg Day is March 24th

What's a Nascar letter, you ask?  

Well, a Nascar racecar has logos from various companies which want the car to win.

And a Nascar letter for Adult Education is a letter with logos from various organizations - Chambers of Commerce, School Districts, Community Organizations, Parent Teacher Organizations, etc. - which value Adult Education and want it to succeed.

All this info and more can be found on the CCAE Legislative webpage.

Saving and rebuilding Adult Education and K12 Adult Schools for our people -

                                                                                     ready, set, go!

October 2014: What's Next?

Upcoming events and things to think about in the Amazing Adventure of Stabilizing Adult Education and K12 Adult Schools: 

1.  CCAE Webinar - Thursday, October 23rd, 3:30 pm - the latest info and strategy ideas from CCAE - the California Council for Adult Education.  CCAE puts special focus on K12 Adult Schools - their future, their funding.

2.  CATESOL State Conference - Thursday, October 23 through Sunday, October 26 - Santa Clara.
Student Leaders from San Mateo Adult School will present a workshop on Student Leadership and Community Building on Friday at 3:30 pm.  Click here to see the full program.  The conference attracts people from around the state so it's a good chance to share ideas and information.  Friday evening folks interested in Adult Education will meet for dinner (location TBA).

3.  AB86 Webinar - Friday, October 24th, 12 to 1 pm.  This webinar will include an AB86 Summit Debrief.  What does the AB86 Workgroup consider the results of the Summit to be?  Find out at the webinar.

Additionally, you can see video from the AB86 Summit here (when they get that going).

And you can access material from the AB86 Summit here.

The summit was a very important event.  It was the first real chance for folks from around the state - both teachers and admin - to share ideas, concerns, experiences, information - in person and all together.  Much good came out of it.  I highly recommend you watch the video and look over the materials.

4.  Powerpoint from the Community College Academic Senate on Adult Ed and Non-Credit.  This powerpoint is a good look inside how the Community College folks are approaching the Regional Consortia process.  What is their perspective?  What are their concerns?  What are their ambitions?  I highly recommend you look at it.  To see it, go to the Resources page on the a4cas.org website and scroll down to the bottom of the page, in the Community College section.  Click on the link for the powerpoint. 

The Community College Academic Senate, in 2011, recommended that all Adult Education be delivered by the Community College system.  It's always a good idea to know what they are thinking about and advocating for.  They are a formal, recognized body with their own funding (which I am in the process of learning more about).   The K12 Adult School community has no equivalent.

5.  CTA State Council - October 24th to 26th.   CTA is California Teachers Association, the larger of the two major teachers unions in California.   Los Angeles is the biggest Adult School in California.  Their union - UTLA - is associated with both CTA and CFT.  CFT is California Federation of Teachers.  CFT had its State Council in September.

What does CTA think about Adult Education?  About K12 Adult Schools?  About the new Regional Consortia?  About funding - dual delivery or single stream through the Community College Chancellor's office?  What does CFT think?  Good questions - and if you are a member of one or both unions, you should be asking to find out.  More importantly, you should be speaking up to help decide the policy.

6.  Tuesday, November 4th - The Election.  Most important bit for Adult Ed:  State Superintendent.  The State Superintendent is the head of CDE - the California Department of Education - meaning, the boss of the K12 side of things. 

The current Superintendent is Tom Torlakson, who famously said, when Governor Brown wanted to put all Adult Ed inside the Community College system, "If ain't broke, don't fix it!"   Where does Torlakson stand on funding for Adult Education?  Dual Delivery?  Single stream through the Community College Chancellor's Office?  He hasn't said.  Which means we need to ask until he answers.

Running against against Torlakson is Marshall Tuck, the son of a retired Older Adults instructor at San Mateo Adult School.  Does that mean Tuck is a big fan of Adult Ed, K12 Adult Schools, and Older Adults programming?  Doesn't seem like it, based on what he's said and done.  Tuck is known as the former hedge fund manager who is a fan of charter schools.  But find out for yourself what Tuck does and doesn't want for Adult Ed and K12 Adult Schools by asking him.

Most politicians start out wanting to serve the public.  Many are pulled off course by the need for campaign money.  What is campaign money for?  It's for reaching voters.  If we do the reaching, they don't have the spend the money on sending us flyers that we throw in the recycling bin or buying ads on tv that we don't watch.  Call their campaign offices and ask them what they want for Adult Education and K12 Adult Schools.

If they want your vote, they can earn it by giving you answers.  They don't have to spend any money to tell you what they think.  It's a win-win for everyone.

If there's one thing I've learned in the Grand Adventure of Pushing for the Survival and Thrival of Adult Education, especially Community-Based K12 Adult Schools, while the Whole Country Thrashes and Shakes in a Struggle for Who Decides What Public Education Will Be and Who Pays For It and Who Will Benefit From It.... it's this:

It's our state.  It's our country.  It's our election.  These are our schools, our people, our future, our decisions.

And in some way, no matter how powerless we sometimes feel or in in part are, at the same time, we always have power.

The trick is remembering to use it.

Power = Responsibility = Choice.

What you choose to look into, learn about, ask about, speak about... this is your power.

How will you use it?

Your choices help determine what's next.

What do you choose?