Call from Educate and Elevate Campaign for Adult Ed Success Stories (Deadline May 30)

Adult Education National Campaign Tell Your Story - Get Your Organization Recognized   Our Collective Campaign   Our 55,000+ adult education leaders stand united in a national campaign called Educate & Elevate to inform policy makers and our community about how we move learning opportunities forward for all Americans to achieve economic mobility. If we educate, then we elevate--- our students, workers, businesses, and our economic growth.   As part of our campaign, we are asking that adult educators submit success stories, customer testimonials, and innovations that will proudly be displayed on our campaign website which is currently in development. We are looking for both student and employer successes to share.   There are three types of submissions. Click on the links below to complete a brief online form and instructions for submissions. Success Story--- a narrative that shares the challenge(s), solution(s), and outcome(s) of a student or employer. Customer Testimonial--- a first-person quote from a student about how adult education supported their goals and dreams and/or from an employer who had a great experience with an adult education organization and/or an adult learner. Innovation--- a narrative summary of an adult education program, project, or initiative that you believe has been innovative in helping students, employers, and/or your community. The power of these collective stories across the nation will inspire and inform policy makers, business leaders, community leaders and many more! We are requesting submissions for our initial launch by 5/30/17, and we will enter you into a drawing for a free ticket to attend COABE 2018 in Phoenix, AZ on March 25-28, 2018!     Thank you for your participation! If you have questions, please contact us at educateandelevate@coabe.org.

CCAE Alert: Trump Admin Budget Proposal for Adult Ed

First, a reminder:  Most of California's Adult Ed funds come through the state but some comes in from the federal government through WIOA - the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act.

From CCAE - California Council of Adult Education:

From:      Art Ellison, State Director's S.P.O.C. Network Administrator

 

Alert:      Trump Administration Budget Proposal for Adult Education (FY18)

 

 

The first Trump budget proposal (skinny version) was released this morning.

 

It refers to significant cuts in job training programs in the Department of Labor portion of the proposal. Adult Education is not mentioned in the brief description of Department of Education programs however the Department would receive a -13.5% overall decrease. In the absence of more specific information which will not be forthcoming until mid-May WE ARE PROCEEDING WITH THE ASSUMPTION THAT THERE WOULD BE AN ANTICIPATED CUT OF -13.5% FOR ADULT EDUCATION if this proposal is approved by Congress..

 

It will be extremely important that hundreds of thousands of contacts from the adult education field let members of Congress know that there should be no cuts to adult education funding in the FY18 federal budget.

 

We should have more specifics on our path forward with this effort by early next week.

 

Thank you all for what you have done in the past and what you will do in the future for our students and programs.

COABE Report from Washington - February 9, 2017

COABE is the Coalition on Adult Basic Education.

Here is their 2/9/17 Report from DC:

Government Relations Report:  February

Washington is trying to acclimate to the Trump Administration. The president is acting through a spate of executive orders. The Senate is slowly making its way through confirmation hearings and discussing how to consider the president's nominee for the Supreme Court. The foreign policy establishment is trying to weigh the impact of the president's remarks on our relationships with Mexico, Australia, and Israel, among other countries. Information about the budget and other administration policies has not been revealed. Like so much else with the new administration, including its views on education policy, details will be forthcoming. However, it is definitely not business as usual in the nation's capital!

Secretaries of Education and Labor Confirmation Hearings

Secretary of Education designate Betsy DeVos had her confirmation hearing on January 11. The consensus is that she did not distinguish herself. On February 7, Vice President Mike Pence cast the tie-breaking vote and DeVos was confirmed by a vote of 51-50.  

The new Secretary responded in writing to two questions about her views on adult education:

15. Do you have any experience working with adult learners or adult basic education programs? If so, please describe this experience, what it has taught you, and how you will use that experience in your oversight of these programs.

ANSWER: Too many Americans are suffering in the current economy. President

Trump made improving the employment opportunities of these Americans a cornerstone of his campaign, and his administration will work to improve the prospects of those forgotten individuals. Reforms enacted in the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act, which was reauthorized in 2014 as part of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, were meant to help states and communities improve services for adult learners to better provide them the education and skills they need to obtain employment and increase self-sufficiency. If confirmed, I will work through the Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education to implement these reforms to improve outcomes for adult learners. Combined with other efforts across the government, we have an opportunity to restore the American Dream for all Americans. I have had personal experience mentoring students in our local public school system. I became very well acquainted with one student's mother, and encouraged her to pursue her GED. Her experience made me realize how difficult the system made this for a single working mother. Many courses were only available during routine business hours, creating an additional hardship for her and her family. The lack of flexibility and adaptability in the system itself is all too often a barrier to success for nontraditional students.

56. As you well know, while some adults enrolled in adult education are still seeking their high school diploma or equivalent, a surprising number of American adults with a high school diploma still struggle with basic skills. Twenty percent (20%) of adults with a high school diploma have less-than-basic literacy skills and thirty-five percent (35%) of adults with a high school degree have less-than-basic numeracy skills. According to a recent study, conducted by OECD's Program for International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), at least three million low-skilled American adults would like to enroll in adult education services, but cannot access a program. Without access, undereducated, underprepared adults cannot qualify for jobs with family sustaining incomes that require not only a high school equivalency, but also some college, preferably a one- or two-year certificate. Adults without a high school diploma or functioning below high school level have a difficult time qualifying for community college programs or access high demand occupations. If confirmed, how do you envision the department and the administration incorporating adult education into its competitiveness agenda?

ANSWER: In raising the issue of "undereducated, underprepared adults" you make a case for the need to improve education. When schools fail our students, there are long term consequences, both for individuals who are deprived of the knowledge and skills they need to be successful and our nation which is dependent on the innovative, creative, and economic contributions of it citizens. It is why we need to do more to provide parents with high quality educational options. Sadly, too many Americans are suffering from a lack of skills. President Trump made improving the employment opportunities of these Americans a cornerstone of his campaign, and his administration will work to improve the prospects of those left behind in this economy. If confirmed, I will work with the Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education and other relevant agencies to improve outcomes for adult learners. Combined with other efforts across the government, we have an opportunity to restore the American Dream for all Americans.

(The Committee has not yet posted a hearing date for Secretary of Labor designate Andrew Puzder.)

Funding

We are awaiting more details on funding proposals. The normal process is for the president to present his budget the second week of February.

However, as you may recall, Congress passed and the president signed a continuing resolution for FY 2017 that is in effect until April 28. According to staff, by the beginning of March, Congress will have to decide how it wants to close the books on 2017 as it works on funding for FY 2018. Thus far, the focus has been on health-related entitlements. Staff expects the administration to send Capitol Hill a budget document that provides some guidance about how it intends to proceed.

There has been a great deal of attention paid to the Heritage Foundation publication Blueprint for Balance: A Federal Budget for 2017 because of press reports that it forms the basis for the budget the administration will release at the end of this month. To summarize, the rumored Trump budget would include about $10 trillion or more in savings. The vast majority of these cuts would be in the non-defense portion of the budget, and according to the Blueprint would include the elimination of all job-training programs administered by the Department of Labor, because according to Heritage, "The Department of Labor has a history of operating ineffective job-training programs. The evidence from every multi-site experimental evaluation of federal job-training programs published since 1990 strongly indicates that these programs are ineffective. Based on these scientifically rigorous evaluations using the 'gold standard' of random assignment, these studies consistently find failure. Federal job-training programs targeting youth and young adults have been found to be extraordinarily ineffective."

A few points to keep in mind:

1. Even if these proposals are ultimately put forth as part of the president's budget, Congress will ultimately have to act on them.

2. Ultimate decision-making authority remains with the House and Senate Appropriations Committees. That is why we are focusing our Hill Days on the appropriators, starting with the members of the Labor, HHS, and Education Appropriations Subcommittees (See Senate Membership below).

3. The state directors and COABE are working together to expand our reach to "grass roots and grass tops" so that, if necessary, we can launch a campaign capable of generating thousands of messages to Congress.

4. The January webinar we cosponsored had 1000 listeners and 1500 sign-ups. The webinar is available for viewing on the COABE website.  http://www.coabe.org/webinar-resources

5. We are preparing materials for Hill Day and the campaign that focus on a pro business, pro growth message.

6.  The state directors' Hill Days are scheduled for March 21 & 22 and will focus on states with members on the Appropriations Committees (see the list below).

7. COABE's Hill Day is planned for April 26 and will focus on bringing in state association leaders to advocate with members of the Appropriations Committees as well as legislators in all 50 states. More details will be forthcoming shortly!  

Senate Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee

Roy Blunt (R-MO), chairman

Thad Cochran (R-MS)

Richard Shelby (R-AL)

Lamar Alexander (R-TN)

Lindsey Graham (R-SC)

Jerry Moran (R-KS)

Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV)

James Lankford (R-OK)

John Kennedy (R-LA)

Marco Rubio (R-FL)

Patty Murray (D-WA), ranking member

Richard Durbin (D-IL)

Jack Reed (D-RI)

Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH)

Jeff Merkley (D-OR)

Brian Schatz (D-HI)

Tammy Baldwin (D-WI)

Chris Murphy (D-CT)

Joe Manchin (D-WV)

The House has not yet completed its assignments.

REQUEST:  Now more than ever, it is important to keep your member of Congress apprised of the need, success, and impact of your program. Many decisions are going to be made in the coming months and we would prefer them to be informed decisions.

Here are some things you can do:

1. From your home phone, call the offices of your Congressperson and Senators, identify yourself as a constituent, and ask for the name and contact information of the staff person who is responsible for education issues.

2. Email that person from your home with information about the need (how many undereducated adults are in the district or state and how many you are able to serve, pointing out the gap), the success you are having with those you can reach, examples of the impact you are having on constituents' lives, and invite the member or staff to come visit your program.

If we do not speak up for our students and ourselves, no one will.

Note:

Less than a week later, on January 26th, COABE and NAEPDC co-hosted an advocacy webinar, generously sponsored by ETS HiSET, to provide our field with tools and resources for raising awareness and visibility, along with new advocacy skills for use during this new administration. More than 1,500 members registered for the webinar, which received a rating of 4.8 out 5 stars. To view the webinar and resources, click HERE. Contact advocacy@coabe.org to add your name to our contact network. #adultedtrump #adultedunited 

COABE's Legislative Center is generously sponsored by ETS HiSET.

              

 

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Perspective: "Adult Education, Why Does It Matter?" by Lucy Ochoa

The following piece was written by San Mateo Adult School student Lucy Ochoa.  Ms. Ochoa wrote the piece for a journalism class at U.C. Berkeley.  In her home country of Ecuador, she is a journalist.

Adult Education,

Why does it matter?

 

By Lucy Ochoa

It's 6:30 pm on Thursday, the last day of school before the weekend. About twenty students rush into a room at the main campus of San Mateo Adult School, greeting each other in different languages. After signing the attendance sheet they choose seats behind of one of the long wooden tables that face the whiteboard.

Click  the "read more" link to learn more.

What Happened At Acalanes?

What happens when funding is threatened, reduced, removed, and destabilized for programs paid by the public and designed to serve it? Click on the "read more" link to find out.

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.

Update on Acalanes Adult School: Belt Tightening Survival

From The Contra Costa Times:

Acalanes Adult Ed tightens belt, drops some classes, survives to see another year

By Lou Fancher Correspondent

Posted:   08/14/2015 05:52:21 PM PDT0 Comments | Updated:   a day ago

The first thing that Steven France, director of Del Valle Education Center, wants people to learn this fall is that the Acalanes Adult Education program is open for business. Then he wants them to sign up for their favorite classes.

Last year things were not looking good for the district's popular adult ed program. But a combination of belt tightening, increased course fees, fundraising initiatives and other measures have afforded the 70-year-old program a one-year reprieve.

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

The Battle for Adult Education in California: Historical Context

From left to right,
Bruce Neuberger,
George & Kristen Pursley
Cynthia Eagleton

At the 2015 Network for Public Education Conference in Chicago, Kristen Pursley, Bruce Neuberger, and I presented a panel entitled, "The Battle for Adult Education."

The Conference was deep and powerful.
An AEM post on the conference is coming soon. 

Cuts and reform in California Adult Education are part of a larger puzzle affecting every piece of Public Education in the US.  To understand what is happening in Adult Education in California - and to influence it in a positive direction - we need to understand what is happening elsewhere - and we need historical context.

Historical context is what Kristen provided at our panel discussion.  Kristen is a lead ESL teacher at West Contra Costa Adult School.  She is a founding member of COSAS - Communities Organized to Support Adult Schools, a group that formed in response to the cuts six years ago and has met weekly since.   She authors the Save Your Adult School blog, a priceless repository of facts and insight about Adult Education. 

Click the link to see her powerpoint:

Same Story - Different Continent

Across the pond from us, in the United Kingdom, Adult Education is undergoing similar reforms and cutbacks.

Check out these blogs and articles for more information:


The Learning Age

The Learning Age:  Adult Education and Austerity

Dancing Princesses blog

"Adult Education is Being Slashed and Burned - This is Too Important to Ignore" - by Lola Okolosie, The Guardian, March 2015

"Ed Reform of Adult Ed in the United Kingdom" - Alan Tucket, The Guardian, October 2014

"150,000 Will Lose Right to an Adult Education" -  The Independent, July 2012

"City Lit Head Deplores Cuts to Adult Education" - The Guardian, October 2010

"Mendelson Slashes Adult Education" - The Guardian, November 2009

"Global Vision or Corporate Welfare: The Privatization of Adult Ed in the New Millenium" Jennifer Sumner

Acalanes Adult School Closing

First... wait a minute... wasn't this not supposed to happen anymore?

What about the Maintenance of Effort Clause?

Or... if the MOE Clause is ending... what about the Maintenance of Capacity thing?

And what does that mean, anyway?  Does it mean that so long as a Regional Consortia is maintaining capacity, it doesn't matter who provides the Adult Education?

Which means that Adult Schools can be closed again?

We need to know because, indeed, it is happening again.

Acalanes School District Approves Layoffs As It Grapples With Budget Deficit 
San Jose Mercury News, March 6, 2015



Acalanes Adult School
Graduation

"In a bid to slash a projected $5.4 million deficit this year, Acalanes Union High School District leaders have agreed to layoffs that spell the end of a 70-year-old adult education program."

"Governing board members and student board member Sean McFeely voted unanimously Wednesday night to approve the layoffs of eight full-time staff members at the Del Valle Education Center, which houses the Acalanes Adult Education Center. A separate batch of layoffs affecting certificated employees at the district's four high schools also calls for the elimination of the Del Valle Education Center director position, held by Frank Acojido since 2001."

"Open since 1945, the center provides programs for individuals seeking high school diplomas and GED's, English language learners, adults with disabilities and career technical education. About 1,648 students are enrolled this quarter, Acojido said."

Acalanes is part of the Contra Costa Regional Consortia. Information about their program is on pages 27 - 21 of their Consortium Plan.

Acalanes has a CTE program that served 322 students last year, and served 610 students before the cuts began in 2008.  Classes for immigrants currently serve 563 students but served 788 before the cuts.  Adults With Disabilities program now serves only 13 students but served 275 before the cuts.

Governor Brown's Proposed Budget  Adult Ed is mentioned in the K-12, Higher Ed, and Investing in California's Workforce sections.

Trouble in Los Angeles

Protesters for adult education yell out against education cuts
along with several other groups outside of the
LAUSD's downtown Los Angeles headquarters.
Photo Credit:  Barbara Davidson, LA Times

Many in and out of LA say, "So goes LA, so goes everywhere."

Is that true? 

I'd say, "Yes, no, and sometimes."

I'd also say, "It's always good to KNOW what is happening in Los Angeles."

It's a big city with a huge Adult School, a huge immigrant population, a huge need for Adult Education, and a long, complicated, and painful history where all those things are concerned.

So here's the latest about what's happening in regards to Adult Education in Los Angeles:

"LA School District Grapples with Budget Cuts."  Los Angeles Times Feb 9, 2015 - Protesters for adult education yell out against education cuts along with several other groups outside of the LAUSD's downtown Los Angeles ...

"LAUSD Board Votes To Send 609 Employees Pink Slips"  KABC, March 10, 2015 The Los Angeles Unified School District board voted Tuesday to send pink ... a nearly $160 million budget deficit heading into the 2015-2016 school year. ... notices are more than 260 adult education teachers, 59 counselors, ...

UTLA - Los Angeles Teachers Union

UTLAAE - UTLA Adult Education Committee

Perspective: Down by the Riverside, Repairing My Wheels

(This is a Perspective Piece.  In this case, mine... my personal perspective on current affairs.)

 

Monterey Coast 2009

This weekend, I've been thinking back on another Presidents Day Valentine's Day Combo Platter Weekend.


What's that on the horizon?

Way back in 2009.

I remember it like it was yesterday, not just because I had a great time in Monterey with my daughter and my folks...  but because I drove down there right after my boss called us together to tell us that in order to deal with the economic recession and keep K-12 schools going, Governor Schwartzenegger was "flexing" Adult Ed money.

Flexibility

The flexibility provided by the budget package is unprecedented. Local educational agencies (LEAs) will be able to redirect funding from 40 programs to “any educational purpose.” They will also be able to use restricted account balances from 2007–08 for any educational purpose.  Read more here.

I remember driving out to the motel to meet my parents.  Distracted by this news, I had spaced out. Now I found myself lost, in a marsh.  My daughter was asleep in the back seat.  Hmmm, I thought, this flex feels like bad news.  Real, real bad news.  Serious like cancer bad news.  Also, where the heck am I?

But when to my surprise, I accidentally found the motel, and greeted my parents and settled in, when I opened up my lap top and emailed my co-workers from the motel room, many didn't seem as upset as was.  It will all be okay, many said.  Things will be fine.  Really?, I thought, Am I crazy?  I don't feel like it will  I feel like we are in seriously deep, stinky and steep, deep, deep doo-doo - up to our eyeballs.

Hit the link to read more.

1/15/15 Update on Berkeley Adult School

An update about the situation at Berkeley Adult School from the Berkeley Adult School Facebook page.  (For the backstory on the situation, see this AEM post or this Berkeleyside article.)

Some of the more than 100 supporters of the

Berkeley Adult School at the board meeting.

Photo: Seung Y. Lee

The immense support, letter writing, social media/blog posting, phone calls and participation in various meetings from friends of BAS recently have been received by our Board and it is important that we continue to advocate for our programs, to organize to inform and have a presence at meetings, write letters, and invite Board members to visit. We are moved and grateful for the unified support of ...our school particularly from our staff. Local stakeholders have written letters, made phone calls and spoken at meetings. At Wednesday evening's Board meeting, Superintendent Evans said "We're not in a position to talk about long-term solutions." While the Superintendent's recommendation to re-purpose our site as an elementary school has been postponed, it remains one of two long term solutions, the other to build a new elementary school at the Oregon Street property. In mid-February, the Superintendent's staff will be looking at projected enrollment for Fall 2015 and determining which elementary schools need new modular classrooms as a temporary solution. If elementary enrollment continues to increase we may have to face the possibility that our advocacy turns to keeping us whole and finding a new location. 

Students and faculty from Berkeley Adult School

stand and hold signs in solidarity

 against relocation of the school at Wednesday’s board meeting.

Photo: Seung Y. Lee

 Adult Education is a tool for social justice and like other worthy causes, we need to always highlight the good work we do by informing our Board, District staff, and legislators, asking the press and public to come and write about who we serve and how we do it, attend and participate in school district meetings, engage our students to work with us and stay in the limelight. BAS staff will be focusing our attention on alternative solutions for our Board to consider other than spreading our classes through the district and the value of the investment in keeping us whole. 

 

There will be a town hall style meeting in mid-February regarding the future of BAS, please stay tuned for details and plan on attending if you can.

Thank you for your support.

"We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope." Martin Luther King, Jr.

Please see the AEM post, "All Out for Berkeley Adult School" for a full list of resources, contact info, media coverage, etc.  That post will be continuously updated.

 

"What's In A Name?" - Hard Questions from Save Your Adult School

This Save Your Adult School post asks hard questions about why K12 Adult Schools have faced so many challenges in recent years.  I've reprinted it here with the author's permission. 

What’s in a Name

Posted on September 1, 2014 by kpursley

 

What is the real reason for California’s relentless attack on its beleaguered adult schools? Could it be our name? Adult schools have to ask themselves questions like this, because there doesn’t seem to be a rational explanation for the way state government has continually attacked its adult schools and put them at a disadvantage vis-à-vis the community colleges at every turn. It has nothing to do with facts or data. For facts and data we go to the Legislative Analysts’ Office, which issued an extensive report on both community colleges and adult schools in 2012 entitled “Restructuring California’s Adult Education System”. On page 15 of that report, the LAO noted that outcomes for adult schools and community college non-credit programs are comparable.

So if our performance is comparable to the community colleges, why are we continually treated as the unwanted stepchild? Sometimes it feels as if we are being blamed for the recession of 2008. Don’t look at those Wall Street traders and bankers! Just look at that grandma taking a computer class! How about that immigrant mom learning English! What a bunch of freeloaders! It must be their fault.

Just look at the record:

2008	The state removed protections on adult school funding, allowing school districts to repurpose adult school monies for any use (“categorical flexibility”). At the same time, the state stopped paying adult schools for ADA (money based on attendance), removing the ability of adult schools to generate income. Instead, school districts with adult schools (not all had them) began to receive a yearly block grant in the amount their adult school earned during the last year they were able to collect ADA. Until 2013, they could decide to use some of this money to fund their adult schools, or not. 2008 was a bad year for education in general. All branches of education were severely cut, including school districts and community colleges. But the very existence of adult schools was put at risk, and some of them became extinct.
2011	The California Strategic Plan for Adult Education was issued, with no input from students or teachers. The announcement of the general public comment period in late 2011 was accompanied by a notice that no significant revisions would be made to the plan; in other words, the public comment period was a sham. The strategic plan noted that there is a significant return on investment in adult education in the form of improvements in civic participation, public health and improved educational outcomes for children of adult education students. (Again, note that FACTS show that adult schools are actually doing a good job). The plan then went on to propose eliminating many of the programs that produce these desirable results (such as Older Adult and Parent Education programs).
2012	The Legislative Analyst’s Report “Restructuring California’s Adult Education System” was issued. This report was about both adult schools and community colleges, and, as noted above, it found that adult schools do as good a job as community colleges do. However, the report subtly framed the issue  and threw around some incendiary language that suggested that adult schools were the problem, even though there were no facts in the report to support this insinuation.
January 2013	Governor Brown proposed to abolish adult schools and have community colleges take over all of their functions.
May 2013	Rather than destroying adult schools outright, the state directed community colleges and adult schools to come together in regional consortia. The consortia are defined by community college districts; adult schools can only enter into consortia with community colleges outside their districts if their own CC district does not want to consort. In other words, adult schools have no autonomy to pick their own partners.   The community colleges can opt out of the consortia if they want, and the community colleges have their own funding whether they join consortia or not. Adult schools still have no independent funding; there is a vague promise of some kind of funding through the consortia beginning in 2015. The legislature does require school districts that haven’t managed to completely close down their adult schools yet to keep funding their adult schools at the same level that they funded them in 2013 for two years. That’s it. No guarantees after 2015, nothing to restore the adult schools that have been devastated. Be grateful we didn’t abolish you.

So, short version:

2008   We’re cancelling your funding and throwing you on the mercy of your school districts. Fend for yourselves. Good luck!

2013   OK, we’ve decided to destroy you now. You don’t deserve to exist.

Later 2013 OK, we’ve decided not to destroy you right away. But still no funding! Get into a consortium with the community colleges. Maybe you’d better do everything they say. After all, they have funding and you don’t.

So why the unwanted child treatment, really? There are no facts to support it anywhere in the two extensive reports that were done, the strategic plan and the LAO report. Both reports put us down with generalities, but the actual facts in the reports show that we’re doing a good job.

Maybe it’s our name. Seriously. Juliet famously sighed that “a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” She meant that it doesn’t matter what you call something. However, names are powerful. When there is no rational reason for something, sometimes we have to look at words and the power of their subliminal associations. So “community colleges” vs. “adult schools”. What are the associations of for those words?

Everyone knows the educational system in the U.S. is defined by a strict hierarchy. At the tippy top of our alleged meritocracy: the Ivy League colleges, of course! They are schools for the elite. No one will ever question their efficacy. There won’t be a lot of reports about them and how they need restructuring. They are assumed effective. The fact that they admit mediocrities like our former president George W. Bush because they are the sons and daughters of the wealthy and powerful doesn’t hurt them; it actually adds to their cachet. The name Harvard sounds impressive and mildly intimidating even with the word “Lampoon” after it.

After the Ivy League schools come the great public universities, like the U.C. system in California, then the state colleges (in California, at least), then the community colleges. Everyone knows where these institutions fall in the hierarchy. Community colleges are certainly the low man on the higher education totem pole, but they are still part of the higher education system. They still have the word “college” in their name. And then “community”! Community is a warm and fuzzy word that everyone likes. They just sound more prestigious and important than “adult school”.

And where do adult schools stand in this hierarchy? Right at the bottom, below elementary schools. On the educational ladder, adult schools are one rung above the School of Hard Knocks.
And that name! Take “school”. School is a simple word, a humble word. It isn’t grand like “university” or even “college”. And it is a word with rich and complex associations both good and bad. In the minds of most societies with a formal educational system, the world “school” is so closely associated with childhood that it is difficult to separate the two.

And, for most of us, school is an intense experience which we go through when we are young and vulnerable. The word cannot help but elicit, somewhere deep down, strong emotions. The loneliness of a first long separation from a parent, the teacher who made you cry, the bully in the hall, the playground humiliation – echoes of all of these resound when you hear the word “school”, as do the memories of friends you made, the things you learned, the fun you had, and your gratitude at being an educated person. The negative associations we all have with our school days are probably one of the reasons it is so easy for “reformers” to beat up on schools and teachers these days.

So a name like “adult school” probably elicits, deep down, a certain cognitive dissonance for most people. School is for children. So what’s wrong with those adults that are still in school? Why didn’t they get it the first time? Even very sophisticated people, like our legislators and governor, may have this reaction at a subconscious level. People are much more comfortable with the idea of adults, preferably young adults, in college than they are with the idea of adults in school.

These are gut reactions, subliminal reactions, but such reactions are powerful. The facts in the LAO report and the State Strategic Plan report showing that adult schools are effective and a good investment don’t make a dent in such visceral responses.

So you may think I am about to suggest that we find another name for this rose, something euphemistic and pretentious like “Citizens’ Success Academy”.   But I think it would be better to take the course of movements that took words that had been slurs and turned them into words to be proud of. I propose that we turn the stigma on its head and proclaim everywhere that we are adult school teachers, students and supporters, and that we are proud of it. Or we could just call ourselves the Harvard of Second Chances,  orthe Princeton of those who never even got a first chance.

K12 Adult Schools: Blueprints for Civic Action

This week the Final Report of the K-12 Task Force on California Civic Learning was released.

The purpose of the California Task Force on K-12 Civic Learning, co-chaired by Justice Judith McConnell and Sacramento County Superintendent of Schools David Gordon, was to ensure that Californians have the skills to participate in work, community, and civic life in the 21st century.

I was struck by the title: "Revitalizing K-12 Civic Learning in California:  A Blueprint for Action."
In so many ways, K-12 Adult Schools, in both form and function, are just such a blueprint.

Hit the "read more" link to learn why.

Data and Decisions: 2011 Little Hoover Report

The following testimony was given in 2011.  I am posting it here because I think it contains important data and important conclusions.  You can agree or argue with the conclusions.  You can use the data to better understand where we've come from and decide where we should best go next.

California Department of Education,

Adult Education Testimony Little Hoover Commission 

Respectfully submitted by Dr. Patrick Ainsworth,

Director of Secondary, Career, and Adult Learning Division

and Ms. Debra Jones, Administrator, Adult Education Office June 23, 2011 

Thank you for the opportunity to address the Little Hoover Commission and to share the vital issues surrounding adult education and the impacts of the current budget reductions. Adult Education has a long history in California serving adults since 1856. The first classes were taught in the basement of Old St. Mary’s Cathedral in San Francisco to Chinese immigrants. Since that time, the program has grown, and in 2008 adult education served 1.2 million adults. 

The current fiscal crisis has impacted hundreds of thousands of adults in California. Flexibility has redirected the Adult Education budget of 634 million dollars to the kindergarten through grade twelve (K–12) system to be used for any educational purpose. School districts and school boards have had to make difficult decisions in this time of limited resources. It is estimated that half of the 2011 adult education budget was spent on adult education.  

Hit the "read more" link to get the full scoop.

Why Do K12 Adult Schools Need Funding?

The following post is taken entirely from the "Save Your Adult School" blog.  I copied and shared it here because I'm afraid if I just include a link, people won't click on it.  The post lays out in a clear way why K12 Adult Schools need secure, stable funding.   It absolutely bears reading and consideration.

Why California’s Adult Schools Need Dedicated Funding

Posted on July 28, 2014 by kpursley

 

In less than a year, on July 1, 2015, the current mechanism for funding California’s adult schools expires. There is no clear plan as to how the system will be sustained after that. 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. Governor Brown has indicated an intention to provide money through the community colleges to fund the regional consortia, which would include adult schools. The 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, clearing the way for the Local Control Funding Formula. The educational needs of California’s adults were not considered at all when this model was adopted, and, not surprisingly, the model would serve them poorly. California’s adult schools need dedicated funding. It is the only way we can assure that the educational needs of California’s adults will be met.

The consortia are a compromise. Governor Brown’s original plan was to dissolve the adult schools in 2013 and give over all of adult education to the community colleges. Strong public advocacy deterred him from this course, and the consortia are designed to preserve the “dual delivery system” (adult schools and community colleges) while bringing the two systems more into alignment. Two of the strongest arguments for retaining adult schools were that 1) adult schools are more accessible for many California adults than community colleges and 2) adult schools support the mission of K-12 schools. These are also strong arguments for providing dedicated funding for K-12 adult schools.
California’s adult schools need dedicated funding for the following reasons:

Create Equity within the Consortia: California’s adult schools need dedicated funding yesterday to be able to negotiate as equal partners with community colleges within the consortia. Adult schools have now gone through half of the two-year consortium planning process in a “one-down” position; for adult schools, everything is riding on the consortia, while for the community colleges, nothing is. Community colleges will continue to receive funding whether the consortia work out or not. Meanwhile, under the current plan, all the money for the consortia will come through the community colleges.
Asking two parties to go “partners” when one party has all the power does not create a real partnership. It’s more like a process of subjugation, and ripe for abuse. This is not to say that I am aware of any overt misuse of their power by the community colleges within the consortia; in fact, the ones I have come into contact with seem genuinely willing to collaborate. But structurally, the potential for bullying is there; in fact, the structure itself is something of a bully. Chances are great that adult schools, already cowed by years of mistreatment by the state government and their school districts, are already censoring themselves when they feel their opinions might displease the community colleges, even when they feel they should advocate for the needs of their students.

It is now unlikely that adult schools will have dedicated funding before the consortia planning process is complete. However, if the state is serious about the consortia, they will have to be an ongoing process. If you really want a system that meets regional needs, the planning process can’t be “one and done”. The needs of a region are dynamic, and the dialog between adult schools and community colleges as to how to best serve the educational needs of adults in their service areas needs to continue long after 2015 if the consortia are to succeed. Once adult schools have their own funding, the negotiations will be more equal, and have better outcomes for California’s adult students.

Assure Adequate and Equitable Funding for Adult Schools: If all money for the consortia is to come through the community colleges, what is to prevent the community colleges from spending all or most of the money on their own needs first? Every branch of education in California is underfunded and cash-strapped, even with the relief provided by Proposition 30, so community colleges are likely to spend the money in this way in the absence of strong directives to do otherwise. The best way to make sure adult schools receive funding is to provide dedicated funding for them, relieving community colleges of the difficult (or not!) decision as to whether fund adult school programs or their own.
After 2015 we have no definite plan to fund adult schools, only a sketchy intention by the governor to provide funding through the consortia. The governor’s statement of this intention is extremely brief, and doesn’t say anything about how the funds would be distributed, or whether there would be any assurances that at least some of the money would go to adult schools. The state likes to be coy about what will happen after 2015, saying that funding levels and mechanism will be based on the consortium planning reports. Since there are 70 consortia, it is hard to see how this could result in a coherent statewide funding system, but that is what the state has been saying. For the inequality built into the consortium planning process, with adult schools at a severe disadvantage due to their lack of dedicated funding, see above.

Red Herring Alert: In discussions of funding through the consortia, one often hears the argument that the community college does not have to be the fiscal agent for its consortium. It could be an adult school, or even some other entity! This goes along with the assurance that the fiscal agent is just a “banker”; they just hold and disperse the money. Fact: In most consortia, the community college is the fiscal agent. For a possible explanation of why that might be, see above regarding the unequal position of adult schools within the consortia. It is true, however, that the fiscal agent is just a banker. It doesn’t matter who the fiscal agent it; what’s important is who decides how the money gets spent. That would not be the fiscal agent, whether it is the community college or an adult school.

Keep Adult Education Accessible: If all money for adult education is routed through the community colleges, as the governor intends, and there are no guarantees that some or any of the money must be spent on adult schools, adult education in California will become much more inaccessible. Adult schools are more accessible than community colleges in a variety of ways. For one thing, there are more of them; there are 112 community colleges in California, and about 300 adult schools. Community colleges tend to be located in large urban areas; smaller cities and rural areas far from the nearest community college may be served by an adult school. While all California community colleges and adult schools are now joined in consortia, some of those consortia must cover vast areas, as there are large counties in California where no community colleges are located.

Additionally, adult schools are often more decentralized within their service area than community colleges. With some exceptions, community college students are expected to go to the college campus for services. Adult schools go where their students are, setting up classes at the elementary schools attended by their students’ children, the churches where their students worship, or community centers where their students go for services. Even the parking fees at community colleges are a barrier for some students, who do not find this obstruction at their adult school site.
If all money for the consortia comes through the community colleges, and the community colleges are allowed to spend consortium money on their own needs first, the adult schools within their consortium area are likely to wither away, leaving California’s adults with much less access to education. To keep adult education accessible, the state needs to commit to dedicated funding for adult schools.

Ensure that Needs of Adult School Students are Met. Adult school students are often very different from community college students, though they may become community college students in time. They may be older students who are not comfortable in the more youthful community college environment. They may be immigrants with little or no formal education in the home country who need to get used to doing academic work. They may have very limited English, and need time to acquire the English they need to function well in daily life in the U.S., let alone do academic work. They may be native born students who need to acquire basic skills before they can tackle more difficult learning tasks. These are among some of California’s most vulnerable adult learners, and an important gateway into education would be closed to them if adult schools were to dry up for lack of funding.

Assure Continued Adult Schools Support for the K-12 Mission: Adult schools belong in K-12 districts because they support K-12 schools in a variety of ways. English as a Second Language, Family Literacy and Parent Education classes at school sites increase parent involvement in the school, give parents skills they need to support their children’s school success, and turn schools into community centers. High School Diploma, GED, and Adult Basic Education programs help schools complete their mission of providing basic literacy to all Californians by providing learning opportunities for adults who , for whatever reason, did not attain basic literacy before the age of 18. If all money for adult education comes through the community colleges, the goals of the community colleges may begin to take precedence over those of K-12 districts. Adult schools need dedicated funding to ensure that they can continue providing vital support for K-12 schools.

Maintain Good Relationships between Adult Schools and K-12 Schools: If all money for adult schools comes through the community colleges after 2015, as the governor seems to intend, what is to prevent school districts from eventually regarding their adult schools as an alien encroachment by the community college into their affairs? While the state has supposedly committed to an adult education system that includes both community colleges and adult schools, the lines between the two systems are significantly blurred when all the money comes through one system. This has the potential to disrupt relations between adult schools and K-12 schools, which might in turn threaten successful features of adult school programs such as Family Literacy and ESL classes held at K-12 school sites.

Establish Clarity Regarding the State’s Intentions: The Legislative Analyst’s Office advised that the state maintain an adult education system that includes both K-12 adult schools and community colleges. Public advocacy against the governor’s plan to collapse the adult schools into the community colleges in 2013 demonstrated that the people of California support adult schools. Now the state needs to clearly establish its support for adult schools by committing to dedicated funding for them. The current state of uncertainty creates anxiety in supporters of adult schools while encouraging those who do not support adult schools to be increasingly dismissive. Many school districts still respond to all concerns about their adult schools with some version of “It’s all going to the community colleges.” This attitude has led to debacles like the near-closing of the LA Family Literacy Centers, even though this model program had been shown, through an eight-year study, to produce excellent results for low income and English Language Learner children, the very children the Local Control Funding Formula is supposed to help.

The fact is that in the absence of a state commitment to dedicated funding for adult schools, both supporters and detractors of adult schools have every reason to believe that the state’s support for adult schools is an illusion. There are many who believe the consortia are simply a slower and less obvious route to the governor’s original plan, which was that the community colleges become the single provider of adult education in the state. To be honest, there is much evidence that this may be the case. The Regional Consortia regions are defined as community college districts, even though it would have made more sense for some adult schools to enter into consortia with a nearby community college in another district.   And as far as we know, the governor intends that all the money come through the community colleges. If all the money comes through one system, in what sense do we actually have two systems?

California’s adult schools have existed in a state of uncertainty for seven long years. For most of those years, they have been fighting for their very existence. They are still around because Californians need them, want them, and support them. Now it’s time for the state to step up and support its adult schools with dedicated funding to provide adult schools and their students with some stability at last.