CFT Local 4681 Letter to Governor Newsom: Increase Funding for Adult Education - Adult Schools!

May 14, 2019

From:  CFT Local 4681, San Mateo Adult School Federation of Teachers

Re:  Funding for Adult Education - 110 Million Increase Needed Now

Dear Governor Newsom,

We are the teachers of San Mateo Adult School Federation of Teachers, California Federation of Teachers Local 4681.  We provide Adult Education to the central and eastern part of San Mateo County: English as a Second Language, Career Tech Education, GED, High School Diploma, Citizenship, Parent Education, Older Adults and Community Integration programs.

You left Adult Ed out of your budget and May Revise thinking, understanding, and increases.  You increased funding for Community Colleges - maybe in the mistaken idea they are the main providers of Adult Education. They are not.   

Adult Schools are the primary providers of Adult Education in California.  In the relatively new Regional Consortia system, Adult Education, county by county, is delivered through the coordination of Adult Schools and Community Colleges.  In a very few places - such as San Francisco - the main provider is the Community College. In most places, it is Adult Schools.

Adult Schools have been grossly underfunded since 2009 when the Global Financial Crash spurred Governor Schwarzenegger to flex categorical funds and allow K12 districts to use Adult Ed funding to survive the recession era cuts.

Prior to 2009, Adult Ed in California was funded at 750 million. Now it is funded at roughly 500 million - even though there are more people to serve and this money must now fund some non-credit Community College programs if they are part of the Regional Consortia delivery system for Adult Ed.

California - as you know - is the 5th largest economy in the world.

It is also 17th in income inequality.

We have the means to address the problem of income inequality - and Adult Education is a crucial part of the solution --- IF Adult Ed is adequately funded.

Your May Revise provided millions in a special program to support undocumented students and staff at Community Colleges.  Wonderful! But did you know that our system - Adult Schools - is mandated to NEVER ask about immigrant status - whereas the Community College can and often does?  We have many undocumented students. We can’t give you an exact number - because we are not allowed to ask! But we wager we have more than the Community College system.  If you want to help undocumented students and immigrants, you must fund Adult Education!

We know you understand the importance of families and communities. We do, too!   No teacher or school or institution can replace family or community. Mother’s education level remains the best predictor of child success.

Alt Text:
Button with hand holding a pencil in a raised fist
"Adult Education Matters"

More than any other branch of public education, Adult Education upskills, empowers, and strengthens the most vulnerable parents, families, and communities.

We have been underfunded for over ten years!

Do the right thing - and increase the budget for Adult Education by 110 million dollars!

Sincerely,

Cynthia Eagleton, CFT Local 4681 Vice President

The teachers of San Mateo Adult School, SMAS Federation of Teachers

San Mateo, CA 94401

Contact Key Legislators to Ask for Increase in Funds for Adult Education

California is one of the biggest and strongest economies in the world - but funding for Adult Education still lags behind the funding it received prior to the global financial crash of 2008-09.  

For more on that topic and why now is the moment to ask for adequate funding, go here.

Alt text:  "Now" with clock at center

This is the moment.

Gather together with students, staff and community members.

Reach out to key legislators who sit on the Budget Subcommittees and to the Chairs of the Budget Committees to ensure they understand the importance of adequately funding Adult Education. 

Tell them why it is so important to fund Adult Education - what it does - and what it can do with adequate funding.

Here is a list of legislators important to contact.  Click on the link to find their contact information.  Send letters to their Sacramento office if you don't live or work in their district.

Senator Holly Mitchell, Senate Budget Committee Chair

Senator Jim Nielsen, Senate Budget Committee Vice Chair

Senate Budget Subcommittee #1 on Education –
Senator Richard Roth (Chair), Senator Connie Leyva and Senator Mike Morrell

Senate Education Committee – 
Senator Connie Leyva (Chair), Senator Scott Wilk, Senator Ling Ling Chang, Senator Maria Elena Durazo, Senator Steve Glazer, Senator Mike McGuire and Senator Richard Pan

 

Assembly member Phil Ting, Assembly Budget Committee Chair

Assembly member Jay Obernolte, Assembly Budget Committee Vice Chair

Assembly Budget Subcommittee #2 on Education – Assemblyman Kevin McCarty (Chair), Assemblyman Bill Brough, Assemblyman James Gallagher, Assembly member Monique Limon, Assembly member Jose Medina, Assembly member Al Muratsuchi, Assembly member Patrick O’Donnell

Assembly Education Committee – Assembly member Patrick O’Donnell (Chair), 
Assembly member Kevin Kiley, Assembly member Ash Kalra, Assembly member Kevin McCarty, Assembly member Christy Smith, Assembly member Shirley Weber

Assembly Higher Education Committee – Assembly member Jose Medina (Chair), 

Assembly member Steven Choi, Assembly member Richard Bloom, Assembly member Jesse Gabriel, Assembly member Jacqui Irwin, Assembly member Kevin Kiley, Assembly member Marc Levine, Assembly member Evan Low, Assembly member Jim Patterson, Assembly member Miguel Santiago, Assembly member Shirley Weber

Tell the Governor and Your Legislators: California Needs Adequate Funding for Adult Education

It's time.

California is the 4th biggest economy in the world.

And it is 17th most unequal "nation" on earth.

Adult Education has what California needs to serve the people who grind to give it power.

Adult Education holds keys  - civic, social, economic, educational - to address the challenges we face:  climate change, income inequality, social injustice, among others ---  if it is adequately funded.

Tell Governor Newsom and your legislators:  Adult Ed needs adequate funding.

Here's information to help you:

(Note:  If you use a screen reader and need this information in text, please DM via Facebook and I will provide for you.)

From Adult School Teachers United: Open Letter to Governor Newsom re Adult School Funding

Adult School Teachers United represents the teachers of West Contra Costa Adult School.  Here is their letter to Governor Newsom (posted with permission from Kristen Pursley's Save Your Adult School blog):

Open Letter to California Governor Gavin Newsom re Adult School Funding

Posted on February 10, 2019 by kpursley

ASTU

Adult School Teachers United

P.O. Box 1115

11135 SAN pABLO AVE.

EL CERRITO, CA 94530-9998

Governor Gavin Newsom

C/O State Capitol, Suite 1173

Sacramento, CA 95814

Dear Governor Newsom:

Adult School Teachers United, representing adult school teachers in the West Contra Costa Unified School District, respectfully urges you to include increased funding for California’s adult schools in the 2019-2020 budget. We applaud the increases in spending on education in the proposed budget, particularly the increase in spending on the youngest children. However, we were very disappointed to see that there was no increase in funding for adult schools, which are severely underfunded and have not received an increase in funding since 2008. California’s adult schools provide basic literacy and low-cost job training for the most vulnerable adults in the state: immigrants who need to learn English, adults who need to earn a high school diploma or the equivalent, and adults with disabilities. Our students are frequently low-income because their lack of basic literacy shuts them out of better paying jobs. Because job prospects for our students improve dramatically as they reach their potential, an adequately funded, thriving adult school system is key to the economic health of the state. Adult schools also provide an important support for children, especially children in low-income families, because as parents become more educated, outcomes for their children improve in a variety of ways.

California has a vast need for adult education that has never been met. According to the last U.S. Census, about 5.3 million adults in California, about one-fifth of the population, are in need of basic literacy services. In the best of times, California’s adult school and community college systems combined have only served about 1.5 million. During the Great Recession, both adult schools and community colleges lost funding, and both systems lost capacity to serve adult students. Adult schools were particularly hard hit; some closed their doors entirely. Since 2013, funding for community colleges has been restored, while funding for adult schools, which were even harder hit by the recession, has remained flat. The failure to increase funding for adult schools has not only prevented them from regaining their former capacity, but also locked in inequities because adult schools in low-income communities were frequently hit harder by cuts than adult schools in more affluent areas. For example, before 2008 Oakland had an adult school system that served 25,000 students. They had several adult school buildings in different parts of the city, enabling them to serve students in the neighborhoods where students lived, worked, or sent their students to school. Oakland currently has 11 classes and shares a building with a high school. They have never been able to restore even a fraction of their capacity.

California needs a robust adult school system. Not every community is close to a community college, but every community has a school district and thus the capacity to have an adult school. California has a large immigrant population that needs to master the English language. Adult schools have been providing English language instruction for immigrants since the 1850s, and still provide more English language instruction than credit and non-credit community colleges combined. Adult school teachers are professionals who must earn a credential in order to teach. We know how to do the job and have been doing it for a long time. We need adequate funding that matches the importance of our contributions.

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Since 2013, state funding for adult schools has been distributed to the Adult Education Consortia. A portion of the consortium funding was dedicated to the adult schools in the consortium, based on what adult schools were receiving from their districts in 2013. This is the amount that needs to be increased. Our community college consortium partners have funding independent of the consortium; in fact, the vast majority of their funding is not tied to the consortium. But adult schools are almost entirely dependent on the consortium funding, and their portion never gets an increase. This is an untenable situation, as costs keep going up, and the adult schools continue to lose capacity as they struggle to keep up with rising expenses. In order to be true partners with the community colleges, adult schools need that measure of security and autonomy that comes with adequate and fair funding.

Adult schools could be doing so much more for the state of California with improved funding. A 2011 California Department of Education study found that the return on investment in adult education included not only economic benefits for the state and individuals, but also increased civic engagement including improved voting levels, more immigrants attaining U.S. citizenship, improved individual and family health, reduced recidivism and improvements in children’s education. These are all improvements that will contribute to stronger, more vibrant communities and, in the end, save the state money. Please consider increasing funding for California’s adult schools and unlocking our potential to bring the benefits of adult education to the state.

Sincerely

Adult School Teachers United

Kristen Pursley, President

CC:

Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond

Senator Nancy Skinner

Assembly Member Buffy Wicks

From Pinole Progressive Alliance and Many Others: Open Letter to Governor Gavin Newsom re: Adult School Older Adult Programs

Posted on the Save Your Adult School blog and sent from the Pinole Progressive Alliance - and many others, including myself (Cynthia Eagleton) and the teachers of CFT Local 4681 (San Mateo Adult School): 

Open Letter to Governor Gavin Newsom re: Adult School Older Adult Programs

Posted on March 9, 2019 by kpursley

March 9, 2019

Pinole Progressive Alliance

Governor Gavin Newsom

c/o State Capitol, Suite 1173

Sacramento, CA 95814

Re: Save Adult School Older Adult Programs

Dear Governor Newsom:

We are writing to request that the State of California find a way to fund adult school Older Adult programs. The cities of Richmond and El Cerrito are in danger of losing, as early as June, an adult school program that serves hundreds of older adults. Other cities may lose similar programs in the near future if something is not done soon. These highly effective and inexpensive programs are at risk because of a decision the California State Legislature made in 2013 to withdraw state funding for adult school Older Adult programs. Acting dishonestly and in bad faith, legislators promised to find other funding for these programs, but never did, leaving the programs in limbo. This is an injustice we hope your new administration will correct.

The programs at risk in Richmond and El Cerrito are the Christ Lutheran Senior Center, St. John’s Senior Center, and the Sakura Kai program for Japanese-speaking seniors. If these programs have to close down, it will be a loss to the community as well as to the students. Assumptions about aging often blind us to the contributions seniors can make with the proper support. Many of the students at Christ Lutheran Senior Center volunteer in the schools with programs like the Read Aloud and Writer Coach Connection. Through the Center, seniors find volunteer opportunities and access the support that helps them keep volunteering. Sakura Kai provides docents for museum exhibits on Japanese-American history in the Bay Area, and has several performance groups, including a Taiko drumming group, that perform at local schools and at community events.  If these programs close, their cultural resources will be lost to the community, while cities are left to deal with a more isolated senior population, and families will have to cope with the loss of a service that was helping their older relative stay healthy and independent.

Adult school programs for Older Adults are a good investment for the state. They combat isolation, which is one of the most serious challenges facing older Americans, and provide opportunities for socialization and mental stimulation that contribute to healthy aging. Studies have repeatedly shown that programs   where older adults learn new things, socialize, and stay active in civic life through volunteering and other opportunities actually save the state money by helping seniors stay healthy and active longer. Healthy, active seniors need fewer government services, and they also make significant contributions to their communities in the form of volunteer labor.

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When the state eliminated funding for adult school Older Adult programs, many adult schools were forced to close those programs. But others, feeling an obligation to students they had served for years, found ways to keep their Older Adult programs open with whatever other funding they could find. This often required them to start charging at least some money for classes that had once been free, which put these much-needed services out of reach for low-income seniors. But the schools did their best to subsidize the programs as much as possible and make them accessible to as many elders as they could. Now some of these programs that were struggling are beginning to falter, and they, too, may be lost if the state does not remedy the situation.

Whatever the reason the state had for pulling the funding for adult school programs for seniors, it wasn’t really economic. Under state law, community colleges can still run similar programs with state funds, and these programs are more expensive than adult school programs because community college teachers make more money. Many community colleges do not have Older Adult programs, as they are primarily institutions of higher learning concerned with offering college level courses for credit. When an adult school has to close its Older Adult program for lack of funding, there is no guarantee that a nearby community college has a similar program, or is willing to start one. Even if a community college is willing to pick up an adult school Older Adult program, it is more expensive to break down an existing program and start a new one than to keep an existing program going.

Adult school advocates were told, at the time the state pulled funding for Older Adult programs, that the legislature did not think programs for Older Adults belonged in the education budget. Perhaps money would be found in the health budget. This seems to have been a dodge, since they never did anything, but simply left these programs to close or languish. Yet they left funding for Older Adults in the community college budget, which is part of the education budget. Californians deserve an education policy that is consistent and fair. We ask that funding be found for adult school Older Adult programs, and we feel that they should be part of the education budget, as they are for the community colleges. It is an insult to older Californians to suggest that they don’t deserve education, and that everything for seniors belongs in the health budget; to be old is not necessarily to be sick. Older people continue to learn, grow and contribute. California needs to invest in them and treat them like the assets they are.

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Sincerely,

Pinole Progressive Alliance

Consuelo Lara, Concilio Latino

Jessica Peregrina, Concilio Latino

Adult School Teachers United

Richmond Progressive Alliance School Action Team

Cynthia Eagleton, Adult School Teacher, San Mateo Adult School, Adult Education Matters Blogger

California Federation of Teachers CFT Local 4681, representing San Mateo Adult School teachers

Adult Ed Staff and Supporters!

Good and urgent news:

Good news:  Allies and CCAE have made great progress in pushing forward a way for us to measure ---

because let's face it, right now at this point in US history, everything has to be measured ---

community "success" --- specifically immigrant integration metrics.

Why is this important?  Because in order for something to get funded, legislators need to see and measure it.   That's how things work. If we want something funded - we need to show a need, show how the need is met, measure results, etc.

If we can measure immigrant integration, it will be possible to get it funded.

Some schools promote college, career, and community --- but officially, statewide, the mission of Adult Ed is essentially college and career.

AB2098 COULD CHANGE THAT!

We Need to Support AB 2098

What’s AB 2098?

AB 2098 is legislation sponsored by

* Kevin McCarty - a former Adult School student out of Sacramento -

* and co-sponsored by Tony Thurmond - out of West Contra Costa, who has been a big supporter of Adult Ed and is running for Calif Superintendent of Education  ---

that requires the California Department of Education to use immigrant integration metrics.

From CCAE:  This bill would  require CDE to categorize the various EL Civics COAAPs into eight categories that paint a complete picture of effective integration into American society. 

Let’s break that down:  

• metrics are a way to measure something.
• Immigrant integration is when immigrants successfully merge into US culture.

Examples of immigrant integration:

• Disaster preparedness - earthquakes, fire, etc.
• Attending a PTO meeting at your child’s school
• Attending a parent-teacher or IEP meeting regarding your child
• Attending a City Council meeting
• Getting a library card, accessing educational resources
• Volunteering - at the Second Harvest Food Bank, SPCA, Neighborhood or Beach Clean-Up, etc.
• Learning how democracy works
• Participating in democratic systems, including Student Council
• Becoming a citizen
• Voting
• Getting involved in local community events and organizations
• Safe health practices - individual/public health
• Safe driving, safe disposal of motor oil

Info from CCAE and Allies

You can read all about AB2018 here. in this info sheet from CCAE - California Council of Adult Education.

 
Read about Immigrant Integration on the Allies website.

Urgent News

The Chancellor of Community Colleges is pushing back on AB2098.  This is a big problem. We need to act now to show our support.

What can you do?

• You can - and should - write a letter or email and share a copy of it with CCAE

What to do:

• Write a letter or email in support of AB2018 - explain why you think immigrant integration is important
• Give examples - disaster preparedness, civic engagement, understanding and participating in democracy, volunteering to help elders, people in need, children, animals, the environment, etc., support and engagement in children’s education, using the library,
• You can write one letter that you send to the same people
• Send the letter or email to Kevin McCarty, Tony Thurmond, and the state legislators who represent you and/or our local San Mateo reps (listed below)
• Send a copy of your letter or email to Dawn Koepke who is spearheading support for AB2098 for CCAE --- dkoepke@mchughgr.com

Sample Letter

Don’t worry about it being perfect.  It can be brief and to the point.

Legislators generally already have a lot of facts.   What they need is

• To know who you are - teacher, staff member, former student
• to know how much people want something - is there a big need for it?
• Stories that illustrate why something is needed and/or why it works
• Offers of help - it’s hard to get legislation pushed through into law
• Lists of organizations, schools, people who are behind something - that helps when they are talking about it, making a case for it

Sample Letter

Dear ------------------,

I’m a ESL teacher at San Mateo Adult School writing in support of AB 2098.  I know how important immigrant integration is - I see it every day. When our students learn how to volunteer in the community, participate in events at their child’s school, or become an officer in our Student Council - everything changes.  From even a single one of these events, they grow in confidence and then begin to seek out new opportunities to participate in and contribute in civic life, their child’s education, and day to day interactions with neighbors and co-workers. It changes how they view themselves and the community in which they live.  They become real participants and contributors - empowered and empowering. That benefits everyone.

Right now, we can’t measure that - and we need to - because it’s a vital part of what we do in Adult Education.  It needs to be recognized and funded - and measuring its success is part of how that happens.

Thank you for sponsoring this bill.  Please push as hard as you can for it.  If there is something specific staff at my school can do, please let us know.  We are very much in support of the bill.

Sincerely,

Cynthia Eagleton

ESL Teacher at San Mateo Adult School 20 years plus

Other possibilities

Provide a bullet point list of immigrant integration of your students

Note that this needs to be measured because Adult Ed is not just career and college readiness - that doesn’t capture everything we do.

Provide links to blog posts about student accomplishments.

Provide student quotes.

To see a fancier type letter which really goes into the facts and lays out a case for AB 2098, here’s the South Bay Consortium for Adult Education’s letter.

Don’t stress out about writing a perfect or fancy letter.

• Write your own letter.  
• Brief is okay.
• Writing an imperfect letter is more effective than stressing out about not being perfect and then not doing anything and then rationalizing that your letter wouldn’t have been good enough anyway.  
• Think about what you tell students, friends, and family when they are afraid of making mistakes.
• And then take your own advice.  

Contact Info for Legislators

Bill Sponsors McCarty and Thurmond:

Thank them and give them evidence to use pushing the bill forward

Assembly Member Kevin McCarty https://a07.asmdc.org/

Capitol Office

P.O. Box 942849,  Sacramento, CA 94249-0007

Tel: (916) 319-2007

District Office:

915 L Street, Suite 110,  Sacramento, CA 95814

Tel: (916) 324-4676

Assembly Member Tony Thurmond   https://a15.asmdc.org/

Capitol Office: State Capitol, P.O. Box 942849, Sacramento, CA 94249-0015, Tel: (916) 319-2015

District Office: Elihu Harris State Building, 1515 Clay Street, Suite 2201, Oakland, 94612

Tel: (510) 286-1400

Remember to email a copy of what you write and to whom to

Dawn Koepke:  dkoepke@mchughgr.com

Writing your own legislators

• Tell them who you are
• Tell them you support AB 2098
• Tell them why you support it
• Remind them you are a constituent or work in their area

Find your legislators:

http://www.legislature.ca.gov/your_legislator.html

Local legislators for San Mateo area:

1. Senator Jerry Hill:http://sd13.senate.ca.gov/

• Capitol Office State Capitol, Room 5035, Sacramento, CA 95814 Phone: (916) 651-4013
• District Office   1528 South El Camino Real, Suite 303, San Mateo, CA 94402      Phone: (650) 212-3313

2. Assembly Member Kevin Mullin:  https://a22.asmdc.org/

• Capitol Office: State Capitol, P.O. Box 942849, Sacramento, CA 94249-0022               Tel: (916) 319-2022
• District Office: 1528 South El Camino Real, Suite 302, San Mateo, CA 94402        Tel: (650) 349-2200

3. San Francisco area legislators

• Assembly Member David Chiu https://a17.asmdc.org/
• Assembly Member Phil Ting https://a19.asmdc.org
• State Senator Scott Weiner http://sd11.senate.ca.gov/

4. Hayward area legislators

• Assembly Member Bill Quirk:  https://a20.asmdc.org/

Capitol Office: State Capitol, P.O. Box 942849, Sacramento, CA 94249-0020

Tel: (916) 319-2020

District Office: 22320 Foothill Blvd, Suite 540, Hayward, CA 94541

Tel:  (510) 583-8818

Remember to email a copy of what you write and to whom to

Dawn Koepke:  dkoepke@mchughgr.com