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

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

CFT Local 4681 Endorses AB 2098 - Immigrant Integration Metrics

San Mateo Federation of Teachers

Local 4681 of

California Federation of Teachers

Representing the Teachers of San Mateo Adult School

July 14, 2018

Re:  AB 2098 (McCarty and Thurmond) - Support

Dear Assembly Members McCarty and Thurmond,

We the teachers of CFT Local 4681 are writing to thank you for authoring  AB 2098 -
the bill that establishes immigrant integration metrics. We are very much in support of it.

We are teachers at San Mateo Adult School.  Most of us teach English as a Second Language.  
Others teach in the GED and High School Diploma, Career Tech Education, or Fifty Plus (Older Adults)
programs. Our school is part of ACCEL, the Regional Consortium providing Adult Education for the
County of San Mateo.

A few facts about the area we serve:

• As of 2010, San Mateo County ranked fourth among counties in California and eight across the nation in the concentration of foreign-born residents.
• Between 2000 and 2010 San Mateo County’s immigrant population increased more than any other county in California, from 25.5 to 33.3 percent.
• Learn more about Immigrants in San Mateo County

Our school excels at immigrant integration.  We are often cited as a model of “how to do it” for
other Adult Schools and Adult Ed programs throughout the state.  

Examples of immigrant integration in action at our school:

• EL Civics -- special learning units for ESL students focusing on health, education, finding jobs, safety, community engagement and volunteering, disaster preparedness, and more
• 
  
• Student Council - democracy in action - and sometimes the first experience an immigrant has with democracy
• Student participation and presentation at local, state, and national conferences
• Student interaction with elected representatives at the local and state level
• Student engagement with the press
• Student leaders speaking about the value of immigrant integration
• Volunteering - participating as a school in local volunteer opportunities such as neighborhood clean-ups, food drives and food banks, etc.
• Student organization and leadership at events and community fundraisers
• Wellness fairs - resources to support emotional, physical and relationship health
• Parent Club and corner - resources to support parents in navigating school systems, finding childcare, obtaining information about higher ed, and other resources
• Parent Education classes - in both English and Spanish
• Health Education classes targeted to our ESL students
• ESL City Government Academy - program in partnership with the City of San Mateo in which students learn about and engage with city government including police, parks and rec, waste management, etc.

Adult Education was restructured during the period of public education cutbacks following the global
financial meltdown.   The focus was narrowed from a broad mission that had always included
immigrant integration to college and career readiness.  It’s place in the budget was even changed
from K-12 and/or Higher Ed to Work Force.

College and career are important.  But they don’t stand unless they are founded on community.

As we see when we look at the current state of our nation - this is not just about Adult Education or
immigrants.  This is about human beings and what enables us to function in healthy ways. STEM - without ethics - becomes abuse.  Knowledge - without values - is dangerous. A nation - without civics - courts collapse. Human beings - however much they seem able to thanks to technology - do not live in isolation.  They - we - live in community. In order to do so relatively peacefully, with some measure of health for both the group and the individuals which constitute it, we must understand each other, have and use relational skills, abide by a set of common rules and customs, and agree on methods to address the problems which invariably arise.

Adult Education has always emphasized these points and taught the skills that support them --
until it was restructured in the recent financial collapse.  In the midst of a recession, one can
understand how an emphasis on workforce skills might seem the answer. But back up a minute
and look at how we got into that financial meltdown.  Were the bankers and Wall Street executives
responsible for that catastrophe gainfully employed? Very much so. What then, caused the collapse? Failure to regulate themselves or their industry - a lack of ethics - was embedded in what happened.  Workforce training isn’t all of what is needed in the midst of a recession. That’s why the New Deal included more than just jobs - it included civic renewal projects, banking regulation, history, the arts, and protection for labor.    

Employment alone also does nothing to inoculate against divisiveness.  Again, we need only to look
around at the current state of affairs in our nation to understand that a job doesn’t stop bullying,
cruelty, or abuse.  It doesn’t stop trolling on the Internet, hacking of elections, or manipulation of
public sentiment. It doesn’t prevent hatred from seeping into civic and workplace discourse or
slow the march of the KKK in our city streets.  Education does - education that includes an emphasis
on our common values, rule of law, and underlying unity.

Immigrant integration - skillful, ethical civic and community engagement - sets the compass for
immigrants to function as powerful engines of civic, community and economic health  - in addition
to functioning at top level as parents, family, and neighbors.

This is what we want, right?  We want residents of California to speak a common language, to be
great parents raising great kids, friendly neighbors who pitch in and help out in times of need,
coworkers with skills to help workplaces thrive and businesses excel, contributors to the mighty
enterprise that is California, shoulders to the wheel, hearts open and wide, hands ready to help.   

That’s only possible when immigrants have the skills that immigrant integration programs provide.

If AB 2098 doesn’t pass through into law, we fear that these programs will lose funding. In fact just
today we found out that funding for our EL Civics program was cut by half.

In today’s world, what isn’t measured, often isn’t seen and isn’t funded.

It’s urgent that AB 2098 is pushed forward into law.  If we can help you in that work,
by providing you with evidence of the value of immigrant integration programs, let us know.  
We have plenty of evidence at our school and are ready to provide it in writing or by speaking at
committee hearings.

On behalf of the members of CFT Local 4681,

Cynthia Eagleton

Vice President of CFT Local 4681

ESL Teacher at San Mateo Adult School

Slide from San Mateo Adult School
 Student Leader Presentation about
Student Leadership and Immigrant Integration
Presented at the
2017 CCAE Bay Conference 

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

San Mateo Adult School Federation of Teachers

789 E. Poplar Ave.

San Mateo, CA 94401

Anthony Rendon, Speaker of the Assembly

Attention:  Rick Simpson

State Capitol

Room 219

Sacramento, CA 95814

 May 21, 2016

Dear Speaker Rendon:

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

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

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

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

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

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

Bruce Neuburger, President

David Doneff, Vice President

Cynthia Eagleton, Secretary

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hooray!

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

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

AB1846, here we come.

Here is the resolution as passed, in full:

Hit the link to see it.

Challege: Teacher Credentialling for Adult Education

CFT's Adult Education Commission met on January 23rd, 2016.  One of the topics for discussion was credentialing.  With the new Regional Consortia system, which entails Adult Schools and Community Colleges working together to provide Adult Education, there is a need for clarity and streamlining where credentialing is concerned.

 

CFT Local 4681's Resolution to Ensure that Adult Education Exists in Best and Fullest Capacity

CFT Local 4681, out of San Mateo Adult School, passed the following resolution:

Resolution to Ensure that Adult Education 
Exists in Best and Fullest Capacity

Whereas education is a human right for people of all ages, and

Whereas Adult Schools have been serving the people of California from every community, including those with the greatest needs and least resources, for over 150 years, and

Whereas, during the last recession, Adult Education was the only branch of public education in California which was nearly eliminated through a combination of funding cuts and allowing districts to take any and all adult school funds for other purposes (Categorial Flexibility), and

Whereas K-12 adult schools were saved only through the determined action of teachers, students, administrators, and their allies, and

Click the "read more" link to learn more.

Perspective: George Porter on Acalanes Adult School's "Older Adults Program"

George Porter, a fourteen year veteran teacher of Older Adults classes at Berkeley Adult School, two term chair of the City of Berkeley's Aging Commission, and member of CCAE (California Council of Adult Education) and CFT (California Federation of Teachers), wrote this perspective piece in response to the news about Acalanes Adult School's survival and their Older Adult program.  (You can read the news report here.)

A PERSPECTIVE ON ACALANES ADULT SCHOOL'S "OLDER ADULT PROGRAM":

Congrats to Acalanes Older Adult Ed. for surviving, but at what cost and should they be viewed as a model?

Click on the "read more" link to learn more.

People Are The Wind; Politicians Are The Sail: Growing Grassroots and Legislative Advocacy for Parent Education and Older Adults Programs

Lick your finger and stick it in the air.

Feel that?

The wind is shifting.

Hit the link to learn more and go here for the short version.

Adult Ed Spring Events 2015

It's Spring - and that means conferences and conventions and legislative hearings and meetings and lots of talk about budget leading up to July 1st, 2015, the start of a new fiscal year and a new era for Adult Education in California.

Each event has its own focus. 

Every event is a chance to connect with and learn from others. 

Here's what's happening in the world of Adult Ed Spring 2015 along with my notes about how the event connects with advocacy for Adult Ed.

1.  CCAE Bay Section Conference February 28 in Berkeley, Northern California.   State Senator Loni Hancock and Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates will speak.  There will be a variety of valuable workshops, including a SMAS presentation on The Power of Student Leadership.  The Conference will be held at Berkeley Adult School which  recently faced the possibility of being uprooted or decentralized.  This brings home the truth we are still in the process of stabilizing Adult Schools and Adult Education.  Until the new funding model is decided, secure, and in place, the back door to every Adult School is open to trouble.  A large group of SMASrs, including myself, will be attending this conference.

2. San Diego Regional CATESOL Conference March 7   The primary focus of CATESOL is teaching English as a Second Language.    "Kate Kinsella, EdD, a teacher educator at San Francisco State University, will be the featured speaker. Dr. Kinsella is a national leader in the field of academic language and literacy whose 25-year teaching career focus has been equipping youths from diverse backgrounds with the communication, reading, and writing skills to be career and college ready."  We can guess that the keynote speaker was chosen at least in part because CCR - college and career ready - are the new watch words in Public Education, including Adult Education.

3.   March 11:  Joint Hearing by Assembly Higher Education and Senate Education Committees.  The AB86 Group will present their report about Adult Education and the new Regional Consortia system at this hearing.

4. OTAN Technology and Distance Learning Symposium March 13-14 in San Leandro, Northern California.  Many of the tech skills I use for advocacy I learned through OTAN.  It's important that every Adult Ed teacher know tech skills - and how to teach them - because tech skills are a big key to success for Adult Learners.  Tech skills are also a powerful means to advocate for Adult Ed and to empower others to do so.

5.  CFT Convention March 20-22 in Manhattan Beach, Southern California.  CFT - California Federation of Teachers - represents a variety of teachers (University, Community College, K12, Adult School, Pre-school, Charter, etc.) along with classified staff and school nurses. Several resolutions regarding Adult Education will go to the floor for a vote at the Convention.

6.  Adult Education Week March 23 - 27  Need ideas for what your school can do for Adult Ed Week?  Check out these and these and these and these.

7.  CCAE Leg Day March 24  Not only administrators and teachers but students will visit Legislators and their staffers on this day.  CCAE is the only organization which includes admin, teachers, students, and community members.  Here is Former SMAS ESL Student Council President Marco's report on Leg Day 2014.  Student participation in Leg Day creates a ripple effect of positivity in Sacramento and in your local school community.

8.  The Assembly Budget Subcommittee on Education will meet about Adult Education and Career Technical Education on March 24th at 9:00 AM in Room 444.

9.  The Senate Budget Subcommittee on Education will meet on April 7th at 9:30 AM in room 3191.

10.  CFT Lobby Days April 20 - 21   CFT provides good education and support at their Lobby Days event.  Members visit legislators in diverse groups to talk to legislators or their staffers about various concerns.  I attended this event last year and it was very worthwhile.

11.  Network for Public Education Conference April 25 - April 26 in Chicago, Illinois. 

This is the 2nd National Conference put on by NPE.  The theme this year is "Public Education:  Our Kids, Our Schools, Our Communities."  Speakers will include
* Jitu Brown, National Director – Journey for Justice, Kenwood Oakland Community Organization, Network for Public Education Board of Directors
* Tanaisa Brown, High School Senior, with the Newark Student Union
* Yong Zhao, Author, “Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Dragon?“
* Diane Ravitch in conversation with Lily Eskelsen Garcia, NEA President and Randi Weingarten, AFT President
* Karen Lewis, President, Chicago Teachers Union
NPE has connected advocates for Public Education nationally and catalyzed an examination of Public Ed Reform and where it's leading us. It has yet to address the missing puzzle piece of Adult Education.  Possibly, it may this year.  I attended the NPE Conference in Austin, Texas last year.  It was sobering, inspiring, and educational.  I hope that more Adult Ed folks will attend this year.

12.   Los Angeles Regional CATESOL Conference April 25

13.  CCAE State Conference  April 30 - May 2 in Universal City, Southern California.  "Mission Possible:  Adult Education, Agent for Change" is the theme of this year's conference.  There will be many workshops on topics of all kinds. As the organization most focused on saving and stabilizing K12 Adult Schools, this conference will definitely address the challenges Adult Schools and Adult Education still face as we move into the new Regional Consortia system and a new funding structure.  Governor Brown's May Revise of the Budget will be coming out not long after this conference.  I attended and presented at the State CCAE Conference in 2013.  That conference was hugely helpful on many levels, including the fact it connected me with other advocates around the state.  I will attend this year's conference and recommend others do, too.

14.  Northern Regional CATESOL May 9 in Stockton, California.

15.  UTLA's Movement for the Schools LA Students Deserve.  UTLA is a hybrid union representing LAUSD teachers, including Adult School teachers.  UTLA members can belong to either or both CFT or CTA.  The UTLA Adult Education Committee is specifically focused on Adult Ed.  You can see UTLA and UTLA Adult Ed has a variety of events planned this spring.

16.  Mid-May:  Governor Brown's May Revise of the Budget.

If there is one thing we have learned these past six years, it is that there is great value in coming together.

And as great as technology is, there is nothing like face to face connection, including the unplanned, unanticipated connections made in a workshop, standing in line waiting for a name tag, or over dinner.

All these events are the chance for engaging in, contributing to, and benefiting from just that.

I encourage you to choose at least one and attend.