Adult Ed Week 2020: K12 Adult Ed is on the COVID Recovery Team and Needs Stable Funding to Do That Work!

April 20 to 24 is  Adult Ed Week 2020 - but not the way we thought it would be.

Many of us were revving up to attend CCAE Leg Day followed by the CCAE State Conference in Sacramento.  We were going to push again on the 110 million ask for Adult Ed Funding.  (Remember - Adult Ed has been under-funded for over ten years!)

SMAS Teacher Jessica
Wearing her Red for Adult Ed
and a facial covering
fto #BeatCOVID

Then COVID happened.

Does Adult Ed still matter?  Do K12 Adult Schools have a special role to play in the COVID Recovery process?

Will English language skills, job skills, health literacy, citizenship, GED and high school diplomas, make a positive difference as we navigate and recover from this crisis?

We know the answer is YES!   Adult Education Matters!  Now more than ever!  

Do crises sometimes mean disaster for K12 Adult Schools?

Here's what Dawn Koepke, CCAE Legislative Analyst says:

This is a critical point and one that needs to be remembered as we talk to our legislators about the importance of Adult Education, especially as we move through this crisis and into what we expect to be rough financial times ahead.  As communicated very clearly from the Governor and our Legislature, there are difficult financial decisions ahead. The last time we faced a similar situation Adult Education experienced the effect of local flexibility, and the Adult Education system statewide was almost dismantled in its entirety. The Department of Finance and legislators openly admitted after that this was a mistake in policy.

K12 Adult Ed as a means to COVID Recovery needs to be

in the public mind and discourse.

in Legislative mind and discourse

in Governor and Dept of Finance mind and discourse

Adult Ed Week is all about that - So how can we make that happen while we shelter at home?

Here's how:

1. Dialogue with your students

• Ask your students how and why Adult Ed is especially important now as we cope with this crisis
• Ask them how they plan to rely on it as we work to recover from the crisis
• Provide your students with info about the situation
• Adult ed underfunded
• State budget needs to be rewritten because of COVID
• We need make sure the Governor and Legislator knows Adult Ed Matters  

2.  Social Media

• This week, take photos of yourself wearing #Red4AdultEd
• Ask your students to do the same
• If you're zooming, with student permission, grab a screen print of you and your students wearing Red for Adult Ed - maybe holding up signs saying Adult Education Matters
• Share the photos on social media with hashtags and stats and stories about Adult Ed
• Post stories old or new that showcase the value of Adult Ed - especially now when we are facing a Recession/Depression situation.

3.  Emails and letters - click here for help from CCAE

• Write your State Senator, Assembly Member, and the Governor about Adult Ed Funding - and mention K12 Adult Ed specifically
• Letters on paper have more impact than emails
• Phone calls are super fantastic - call and ask to talk to the aide in charge of education
• If you make a phone call, dialogue with the aide you speak with - ask them what their Member plans on pushing for in this new budget, what their priorities are, what their questions about the role of Adult Ed might be

4. Join CCAE   

• CCAE is the only organization specifically devoted to K12 Adult Ed - and remember, K12 Adult Ed gets the worst cuts - much worse than CC Adult Ed
• This week they are having a webinar - Legislative Advocacy Reimagined  - sign up for it!
• If your register for the webinar, you can watch it later, at your convenience

5.  If you work at a school with a union, join the union if you're not a member, and get involved if you are!

• San Mateo Adult School has done great things for Adult Ed through CFT Local 4681
• Unions are doing a lot right now to to help educators, students, and families cope with this crisis
• Be part of that good work and have a stronger voice in advocacy for K12 Adult Ed, by joining the union and being active in it

6.  Take action - take a photo, write a letter, reach out to your networks

* Celebrate and advocate through photos, stories, letters, emails, and calls. 

* Talk with your students

     * Ask them for feedback on how Adult Ed is helping them cope with this crisis 

     * Ask them how it can help them recover as the pandemic recedes 

     * Ask them what they need from Adult Ed now and in future to survive, take care of their families, and navigate the economic fallout from this crisis

* Join CCAE and/or your union and get involved in advocacy.

* Share why Adult Ed Matters with your network of friends and family.

Remember, failure to take action can lead to a crisis -- and wise action can help us recover. 

Take wise action!

Why?

Because #AdultEducationMatters!

#AdultEdTeamRecovery

#COVIDRecoveryTeam

#K12AdultEdMatters

#AdultEdRevsRecovery

#StableFundingStableFuture

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

From CCAE: Key Facts about AB 2098

From CCAE - California Council for Adult Education

 

Key factors to consider for AB-2098 - Adult Education Block Grant Program: Immigration Integration

Key Points for CCAE Support reporting immigrant integration metrics

1.      It’s who we are

2.      We need to show effectiveness through other metrics

3.      The data is already there

4.      We don’t have to do more

5.      This is not a mandate

It’s who we are
California Adult Education was founded in the K12 system with a focus of integrating immigrants into California so that they could be productive members of their communities. This is one of our most distinguishable aspects and separates us as unique among the education providers in California.

We need to show effectiveness through other metrics
Demonstrating effectiveness through our current Adult Education Program metrics does not adequately capture this data, especially for programs that do not offer CTE. If you consider the current outcome data we annually report, we can assume a student to most likely report a positive outcome within that year must be at a minimal Educational Functioning Level when they start.

Positive Outcome Reporting Areas	Literacy gains (pre/post)	AEP Outcomes (HSD/HSE, PS Achieved Employment, Increased Wages, Transition to PS)	Services
Population most likely to attain positive outcome by Educational Functioning Level (EFL)	All ASE EFLs All ESL EFLs	All CTE ASE EFL High ESL EFL Advanced	All CTE ASE all EFLs ESL all EFLs
Population most likely to attain positive outcome by Percent	100% ASE EFLs 100% ESL EFLs	100% of CTE students 11% of ASE students 22% of ESL students	100% of CTE students 100% ASE students 100% ESL students

 

In column two (Literacy Gains), all levels of ABE/ASE and ESL could annually report a positive outcome.

In column three (AEBG Outcomes), the minimal EFL for a student to start with a report a positive outcome for ABE/ASE would be High and for ESL it would be Advanced.

With these conservative assumptions the bulk of our students in we report on, 82% overall, would not fall within the range to be a position to report a positive outcome under AEP Outcomes.

The data is already there

Under EL Civics, and specifically through COAAPs, many of the K12 and CC programs are already reporting positive outcomes for students under immigrant integration. CDE already has the data and this bill would just require CDE to categorize the various EL Civics COAAPs into eight categories that paint a complete picture of effective integration into American society. The following table is an example of how these COAAPs could be categorized by CDE and the CCCCO.

Integration Metric as per AB 2098	EL CIVICS COAAPS
Increased economic security	Health Insurance 26.3, 26.4, 29.2 Clinics 26.3, 26.4 Obtain housing 4.4, 4.5, 4.6, 4.7,4.8  Rental Agreements 5.3, 5.4 Tenant Rights 6.3 Banking 1.5, 1.6
Improved English proficiency	Learn basic study skills 13.6 Write an email 47.1 - 47.3
Increased credentials and residency	Immigrant Rights/Agencies 19.4, 19.6-19.8 Voting/Political Process 39.4-39.6 Environmental Issues 43.2-43.3 Research/address community issues 8.4, 8.5, 8.6 Workers' Rights 35.4, 35.5, 35.6 Safety 37.3, 37.4
Increased health and well-being	Access health care 28.5, 28.6, 28.7, 28.8 Access substance abuse treatment 31.2 Keep family and home safe 7.4, 7.5, 7.6, 7.7 Understand medication usage 30.4
Increased educational and career advancement	Career Plan 14.5,14.7, 33.5, 33.9, 51.1, 51.2 Identify Skills, Aptitudes 51.2 Job Application 33.6, 33.7, 33.8 Resume 33.6, 33.11 Interviewing 33.7, 33.8, 33. 11
Increased first language literacy	Internet Safety 47.1, 47.2, 47.3, 48.1, 48.2, 48.3 Online Communication 48.1, 48.2, 48.3
Improved provision for children and family	Successful Learners 13.5, 13.6 Parenting Skills 21.4, 21.5, 21.6 Prevent/report home accidents 24.4 School Enrollment 13.4, 13.5
Increased participation in civic and community life	Immigrant Rights/Agencies 19.4, 19.6-19.8 U.S. History and Gov't. 40.4, 40.5, 40.6 Local, State, Federal Govt. 42.3, 42.4 Naturalization Process 40.4, 40.5, 40.6

 

Programs would not have to do more

Because many of us are already reporting the data and there are systems in place to pick the COAAPs and administer the assessments, there is not an increase in workload. We continue the good work we are doing and get credit for it at the state level. If programs want to expand their COAAP offerings to address other areas of integration, they are free to do so, or not.

This is not a mandate

AB 2098 specifically states that programs may report outcomes under immigrant integration. Just like programs now “may” report outcomes under pre-apprenticeships, Adults with Disabilities, or any other area under AB 104. We are not mandated to produce outcomes under all areas and so some of us focus in a few areas while larger programs might provide services in all areas. It is up to each program to decide and address the needs of their community.