173: Finding the Spring

SB 173 goes before the Assembly Higher Ed Committee on Tuesday, June 10th at 1:30 pm.

SB 173 has gone through a number of changes since it last appeared before this same committee back in August of 2013.

At that time, SB 173 excluded Parent Education and Older Adults Adult Education courses from funding by the state.

I and others attended that hearing to ask that SB 173 be amended so that those programs were not excluded. 

At that time, CCAE - the California Council of Adult Education - spoke for SB 173 and CFT - the California Federation of Teachers - spoke against it. 

Various community members and organizations also spoke both for and against it. 

This issue of narrowing the mission of Adult Ed is not the only part of the bill that has incited controversy and argument but I would say it is the issue that has caused the most heat and the most division in the Adult Ed community.   I wrote about that division here.

I am a member of both CCAE and CFT.  I agree with both organizations on some points and disagree with them on others.  I am grateful that both organizations exist and I "put my money where my mouth is" through my membership, dues, and participation in both organizations.

At the hearing in August of 2013, I said that I thought SB 173 should be amended to include Parent Education and Older Adults, as well as Financial Literacy and Home Economics, the other two programs slated to be excluded.  Recently, I think more and more about Financial Literacy and Home Economics.  Imagine if Californians better understood financial matters?  And running their home in an economically wise way?  Imagine.  Yes now.  For just this moment.  Imagine.  Yes.  Wow.  It's that important.

I still think SB 173 should be amended.  You can read why here. 

You can also read this Save Your Adult School post which very factually and eloquently combs through both the benefits and shortcomings of SB 173.

The view that SB 173 needs further amending is not a popular view and in the eyes of many, it is not a practical view. 

But having just come from a week on the Mountain during which I had time to swim and sit and hike and think...  to visit with my daughter and a friend...  to think about my family... which consists of many folks connected to me by blood, law, love, and water...  to read Mercedes Schneider's amazing book, "A Chronicle of Echoes:  Who's Who in the Implosion of the American Public Education" and think about what's really at the root of the arguments around SB 173 and Designated Funding for K12 Adult Schools and how to include teacher, student and community voice in the formation of the Regional Consortia and all the other things we in the field of Adult Education talk and argue about...

hit the "read more" link to find out what I figured out

Soft and Hard: Money, Decisions, Landings

(This one is a combo platter of information and perspective.)

Even though these Los Angeles Unified School District Family Literacy programs have been proven to help the kids the new Local Control Funding Formula is designed to help, it's set to be closed May 29th.

What's the connection to Adult Education?

This program is run with a combination of Adult Ed money and First Five money.  First Five is what we call "soft money."  It's a grant.  Some of the grant money was used to do research on the program to find out if a combination of Parent Ed and ESL for parents and Early Ed for kids could help kids succeed in school in the long run.

What do you think the answer was?  Yes.  You're Right.  It does.

But soft money is called "soft" for a reason.  There's no guarantees.  Donators, philanthropists, foundations, grant givers can change their minds, choose different programs to fund, or run out of money.

Just like the state, I guess.  But the difference is the state is run by our representatives.  We elect the people who make the decisions.  There is some accountability and transparency.  And if we are unhappy with the decisions being made, we can tell our representatives we want them to choose a different way.

With soft money, there is no such thing.

Sometimes soft money is used to get something started or do as First Five did here, find out if something is really worthwhile.  Then the soft money pulls out and the idea is, if the program is really good, if it serves the people and saves them money in the long run, the state or district stays in.

But that's not what's happening here.    

Just as the soft money is pulling out, LAUSD is pulling out, too. 

Why? 

Good question.

Maybe because it reads the writing on the wall of AB86.  Parent Education is not funded.  The emphasis is CCR - College and Career Readiness.

Is that legal?

SB91 - the Maintenance of Effort clause - states that K12 School Districts must continue to fund Adult Education at the same levels previous until 2015 when the new Regional Consortia program goes into effect.

But fund what?  Do districts have to fund the same programs they did last year?  Or can they fund whatever sort of Adult Ed they want to so long as it's some sort of Adult Ed?  I don't claim to know the answer but it seems that LAUSD is interpreting it to mean the latter.

What does that mean for the families served by the Family Literacy programs?  And what does that mean for the larger community of Los Angeles? 

What does that mean for us, as a people? 

These programs have been proven to affect children positively years into the future.

"Independent research has demonstrated that the Family Literacy Program is more successful than other LAUSD preschools in building success for children who come from households challenged by illiteracy and poverty. It has been ranked by its peers as one of the highest performing such programs in the nation, as measured by achievements of both children and adults."

Wouldn't LAUSD want that?  Doesn't that save them money and support them in their efforts to educate children?

Of course, it does.

This leads us to the question of whether or not LAUSD has the wisdom to change its mind.  They made the decision to close the program on Thursday, May 29th.  Is that a hard decision?  A soft one? Do they have the wisdom to recognize that perhaps they made this decision too hastily and cutting these programs will be too costly in the long run?   It's a little like selling your shoes before you climb a mountain, in the mistaken idea that those few bucks will make the climb easier.  Stop!  Don't sell those shoes!  Instead, lace them up tighter!

There will be a rally to save the program on Tuesday, May 27th.  Folks will gather outside school district offices carrying signs and chanting in English and Spanish. They will wear red.  Speakers will use a portable PA system. Speeches and interviews will be available in English and Spanish.  Press Release here.

The decision that LAUSD makes about this program will determine where they land as a community in the future, as will the decisions that other districts make. Together, their decisions and the decisions the Governor and Legislature are making now in this time of great change in how we educate and care for ourselves as a people, will determine our future.

What we fund, how we fund it, how open we are to really looking at what we're doing and where it's taking us - these things decide the softness or the hardness of our landing and the joy or pain thereafter.

When we fund something through democratic means... choosing to tax ourselves to pay for something that serves us as a people...  doing this through a democratic process... voting, representation, etc...  there is recourse when we are unhappy about something.  We can use the democratic process to change the course of things.  And we can use the tools gained through education - reading, research, analysis - to follow the money.  Was our money spent as it we intended it to be?

When we don't... when we rely on private sources of money to pay for something that serves us a people... we really have no recourse when, for whatever reason, that funder pulls out. 

This is why I am concerned when folks in the legislature and elsewhere say that we can still provide Parent Education, Older Adults, Home Economics, and Financial Literacy classes, all still listed on the California Department of Education's list of Adult Education programs, so long as we fund them through fees or foundations.

To my mind, education funded through fees and foundations is not public education. 

It's education, but it's not public education.

Democracy cannot function without public education.

To erode education is to erode democracy.

And I don't want to live where that lands us.

It might seem I have wandered far from where I started but I don't believe I have, anymore than I believe it will not be long before we go from closing down these programs and a future where even more money goes to build and run privatized prisons, and deal with the price our people pay for addiction, mental and physical illness, and the breakdown of strong family and community connections.

We need strong families and communities.  Schools - even community schools - can never replace them.  Programs such as this one support and strengthen families and communities so they can do what they do best and schools can do what they best.  Together, we work to create a future where we can live in health and harmony.


For more information on this matter please see:

http://saveouradultschool.wordpress.com/2014/05/23/letter-to-governor-brown-re-closing-of-the-la-family-literacy-centers/

http://saveouradultschool.wordpress.com/2014/05/23/save-our-school-appeal-from-la-family-literacy-program/

http://saveouradultschool.wordpress.com/2014/05/23/urgent-la-family-literacy-centers-set-to-close-may-29/

http://saveouradultschool.wordpress.com/2014/05/08/la-school-district-set-to-dismantle-effective-and-popular-family-literacy-program/

For more information, please contact: 

Patricia Bauer, spokesperson. patriciaebauer@mac.com; 310-617-5809 

savefamilyliteracy@gmail.com

 

If you are unable to attend the protest, please send an email to lend your support.  

 

They need to receive this message: SAVE LAUSD FAMILY LITERACY. 

Please copy us on all emails you write: savefamilyliteracy@gmail.com

 

LAUSD Superintendent of schools:

John Deasy <john.deasy@lausd.net>

LAUSD Board of education:

Bennett Kayser <bennett.kayser@lausd.net>

Monica Garcia <monica.garcia@lausd.net>

Monica Ratliff <monica.ratliff@lausd.net>

Richard Vladovic <richard.vladovic@lausd.net>

Steve Zimmer <steve.zimmer@lausd.net>

Sylvia Rousseau <sylvia.rousseau@lausd.net>

Tamar Galatzan <tamar.galatzan@lausd.net>

LAUSD Department of Adult and Career Education:

Donna Brashear <donna.brashear@lausd.net>

Jim Chacon <jac04621@lausd.net>

LAUSD Department of public affairs:

Thomas Waldman <thomas.waldman@lausd.net>

Gayle Pollard-Terry <gayle.Pollard-Terry@lausd.net>

Lauren Mendoza <lauren.mendoza@lausd.net>

Los Angeles Mayor and staff :

Eric Garcetti <mayor.garcetti@lacity.org>

Ana Guerrero <ana.guerrero@lacity.org>

Los Angeles City Council:

Herb Wesson <councilmember.wesson@lacity.org>

Update and Next Steps from CCAE

Analysis and Advice from CCAE Legislative Liaison Dawn Koepke on the 2014 May Revise:

May Revise - Adult Education Update & Next Steps   Not unexpected, the Governor's May Revise budget plan released yesterday focused on adjustments in revenues and programmatic expenditures - not on adult education.  As we've discussed previously, the Administration and Legislature are committed to addressing the needs of adult education, particularly for K-12 adult schools, in the FY 15-16 budget process that will begin with the Governor's January budget proposal to be released by January 10th, 2015.    While there were no significant changes relative to the future of adult education, the May Revise did contain provisions that would suspend local educational agencies from establishing new federal Workforce Investment Act (WIA) affiliated charter schools and charter schools that offer correctional education until a more comprehensive plan for adult education is developed next budget cycle. Concerns peaked with the Administration, Legislature and Department of Education (CDE) earlier this year with the establishment of an adult-focused charter school in Northern California.  Currently, these schools can claim LCFF based funding for adult average daily attendance, which no other local educational agency may claim.    Ultimately, the Administration and Legislature are interested in the development of a more comprehensive plan for adult education in both delivery systems - CCC and K-12 - that takes in to account the benefits and strengths of both systems and ensures stability and beneficial outcomes for the students we serve.  In this regard, we are working aggressively to ensure that plan protects K-12 adult schools, while at the same time continuing the regional consortia work that was initiated under AB 86 last year.  We're continuing to meet with key legislators, Administration officials, Department of Finance (programmatic staff and management), budget staff, and stakeholders to craft a comprehensive plan that is protective of K-12 adult schools, workable, and clear for districts to include in their budgets going in to FY 15-16.  This work will be critically important through the summer and early fall as the Department of Finance embarks on the development of the next budget plan that will address adult education.  In this regard, we will be ramping up efforts soon with grassroots advocacy (that's YOU!), media interaction, coalition building and more.    In the meantime, it is critically important that all of you in the field continue to focus on and take the following steps in the next month:   -       Sign up for your elected officials' monthly/weekly newsletters through their website; -       Relationship building with an education of your local elected officials and district office staff regarding your adult school, student achievements, and etc.; -       Invite them to your graduations, ceremonies, and schools for a visit; -       Go visit the member and their staff at their district office during their sidewalk hours; -       Utilize your friends and family who have relationships with the members as a means of introducing the members to K-12 adult schools; -       Educate members and staff on your AB 86 consortia planning efforts; and -       Reconnect with supportive community based stakeholders in your region in preparation for this summer's advocacy efforts (local chambers of commerce, businesses, community based organizations, county supervisors, city councilmembers, etc.).   Strong relationships with elected officials and the field in their districts will be critical to our grassroots advocacy push this summer.  Such relationships and advocacy this summer will help apply pressure to the Department of Finance and Administration to protect K-12 adult schools as they work to draft their FY 15-16 budget plan this Fall.   In the coming month, we'll be preparing more specific talking points and "asks" for adult education - you, the field, will be critical to that effort.  In the meantime, we urge you focus on continuing to build those relationships!   Dawn Koepke CCAE Legislative Liaison

 

 

Size Matters: The Third Rail in Adult Ed Politics

Clearly, this is another perspective piece.  Mine.  

Do you know what a third rail is?

That's the rail on the subway tracks you don't want to touch because it could kill you.

In Adult Ed politics, it's the size of the mission.

Some are for a full mission.  CFT - the California Federation of Teachers - is.

Some are for a narrow mission.  CCAE - the California Council of Adult Education - is.

Some are for a full mission but think it's not possible in the current climate so they put their focus on doing the best they can with how things are and what they have and what they can find to fix things.

Click the "read more" link to learn more about why it is and isn't dangerous to touch the third rail.

When and Where is Education a Civil Right?

Clearly, this is another Perspective piece.  Mine.  Yours is welcome.  Click "Perspective" to share.

CAELA - Community of Adult ESL and Literacy Advocates, part of Harvard's Graduate School of Education, is holding a Summit on Adult Education entitled, "At What Age Does A Civil Right Expire?" on Saturday, April 26th, 2014.

Hooray for Harvard!

And hooray for our people who benefit wherever and whenever Adult Education is valued, considered, bettered, and funded.

I learned of the Summit because CAELA reached out to the San Mateo Adult School student leadership team.  CAELA is interested in how and why the students at SMAS are so active and effective.  

CAELA reached out to A4CAS, the Alliance for California Adult Schools, as well.  Grassroots efforts from A4CAS, United Adult Students, COSAS, Save CCSF, and others have helped save Adult Education in California and continue to push for its survival, health, and improvement.  CAELA is interested in the role that grassroots organizations have had in determining policy.

Hit the "read more" to learn more.

Adult Education: The Invisible Power

In many ways, this is a Perspective piece - both because it is from my perspective and because it is about how a shift in perspective can change everything.  As always, I welcome other perspectives.  Contact me at cyn dot eagleton and then the "at" sign and then g and them mail and then dot and then com if you are interested in sharing a perspective piece here.

 

Edsource and the California State PTA are holding a Symposium on Public Education Reform in Los Angeles on May 7.

 

You can read the full article here, "Edsource Symposium to Tackle 'Seminal' Public School Reforms."

 

From the article:

 

Public education in California is undergoing radical reforms that change everything – from how students will be tested on what they learn to the fundamental way schools are evaluated. 

 

An EdSource symposium in Los Angeles next month will help the public make sense of the changes and how they’ll shape the future of education in the state. 

 

The May 7 event, offered in partnership with the California State PTA, brings together some of the top experts in their fields to discuss the impact of reforms underway.

 

There is no mention of Adult Education anywhere on the program.
 

A little over two years ago, I proposed an Adult Ed Needs a Seat at the Table campaign.  We took pictures of students holding up plates that said why they need Adult Education.  We made the case that we needed to be at the table when decisions about the future of Adult Ed were made.

 

I don't disagree with that.

 

But I have learned and thought plenty since then - and that has shifted my perspective. 

 

Adult Ed does not need a place at the table.

 

Because Adult Ed has a place at the table.

 

What Adult Ed doesn't always have is visibility.

Hit the "read more" link to learn more.

"No One Is Safe"

This Save Your Adult School blog post -

Assembly Budget Subcommittee 2 Hearing, April 8, 2014

provides important information and insight into key Adult Education issues including

- equity of power between K12 Adult Schools and Community Colleges in the Regional Consortia

- the need for awareness, caution, and action

A few excerpts:

"The subcommittee asked Dr. Harper if the fact that the funding for the consortium will be coming through the community colleges distorts the collaboration process that is central to the consortia. Dr. Harper’s frank answer, that it cannot help but do so, should set off alarm bells. This is the first time, to my knowledge, that a legislative body has brought up what should be an obvious issue: the lack of independent funding for adult schools puts adult schools in a “one down” position when negotiating with the community colleges, who have their own dedicated funding. If the state wants the consortia to be healthy, well functioning bodies, this kind of inequality should be the last thing they want. The state needs to look seriously at ways to put adult schools on a more equal footing with community colleges. Dedicated funding of their own would be a good start."

"No One Is Safe"

"Watching the long lines of Future Farmers of America and CTE students pleading for their programs made me think of discussions we adult education advocates had back when categorical flexibility first raised its ugly head. Remember those? CTE is safe, we used to say. It’s job preparation, everyone loves that. High School Diploma is safe; school districts need it to serve kids who drop out of high school. ESL is safe; how can immigration reform work without it?

How wrong we were. Future farmers and future engineers can tell us: no one is safe. Oakland doesn’t have High School Diploma anymore. We learned at this hearing that CTE is devastated. Older adult, Parent Education, Health and Safety and Home Economics programs are the most at risk now, but we can’t take anything for granted. It’s good to know the consortia are starting to pick up the pieces, and it looks like they will, but you can’t count on preserving anything you don’t fight for, which brings us to …

Next Hearing
Senate Budget Committee #1
Tuesday,  April 29
9:00 AM
State Capitol, Rm 3191"

Hit this link to read the full post - which I highly recommend you do.

Hit this link for information about the next hearing which will be before Senate Budget Subcommittee 1. 

And the members of Senate Budget Subcommittee 1 are:

Marty Block (Chair)

Carol Liu, author of SB 173 Education Funding: Adult Health & Safety Education

Mark Wyland

If you can attend the hearing, do so.  Attendance makes a difference.

And most definitely connect with Senators Block, Liu, and Wyland beforehand through a call, email, or letter to tell them what you know, need, and want for Adult Education and K12 Adult Schools.

Do not assume someone will speak up for you.

The Unified Field Theory of 173: Happy Independence Day

Are you familiar with Unified Field Theory?

Yeah, neither am I.

Not really.  I mean, I don't understand everything about it.

That's the whole thing.

No one has so far.

Not even Einstein who spent much of his life trying to.   He's the guy who came up the name.

Unified Field Theory tries to put together things that don't seem to agree into a frame where you see that they do.  Because after all, they already are.  Parts of a whole that work together in shared purpose. 

I think that's what Rumi was talking about with this field:

Hard to get to, isn't it?

Click to the "read more" link to see us there.

Adult Education is a Civil Rights Issue: An Open Letter to Gov. Brown

Dear Gov. Brown:

You're framing your Education Plan as a civil rights issue.

Indeed, it is.

Access to Education is always a civil rights issue.

And what branch of our public education system is most concerned with civil rights?

What branch serves the people with the least access to power? 

What branch empowers people to communicate, vote, work, parent, and maintain their physical and mental health so they can contribute to California at full capacity?

What branch is entrusted with the job of giving immigrants the skills and knowledge they need to become citizens so that they can full engage in civic life? 

What branch meets people wherever they're at, in mind or geography - or did before the cuts and closures hit -  to boost them to the next level?

To remind them that that not only do they have the opportunity to grow as humans and citizens, but the responsibility?

And bonus for all of us on this one, what branch is the cheapest, most cost-effective, least bureaucratic?

Adult Education!

Especially Adult Education as provided by K12 Districts!

Governor Brown, you are not alone in your worry about civil rights.

We're worried, too.

Especially when the branch of public education first on the ground to help those most in need has been cut to the ground.

Re-open the closed K12 Adult Schools.

Restore funding for Adult Education.

Recognize that Adult Education as delivered through the K12 system is the only branch of public education that meets people exactly as they are, wherever they are, throughout this state.  In deserts, in mountains, on the coast, in the valleys... Adult Education provides accessible programs which empower people to communicate in English, work, parent, vote, and share the best of themselves with their families, their communities, and this state.

Adult Education, especially Adult Education within K12 systems, has been easy to cut and close for the very reasons you are concerned about civil rights:

Because Adult Education serves the people least likely to complain.  Least likely because their lives are already so full just getting through each day, while struggling to create a better tomorrow.

To take advantage of that is a moral wrong.

That's why, in spite of the challenges so many Adult School students face every day, they are finding the courage and energy to speak up and demand a return in funding for Adult Education.

Hit the "read more" link to read more.

Inside the Chrysalis

Many people mistakenly think that somehow, inside that chrysalis, the caterpillar hardens up and hunkers down and maybe grunts a time or two as it pushes out beautiful wings... then sucks in its gut until it has the long, slim body of a butterfly.

No.

What really happens is the caterpillar sort of melts down into something called imaginal cells.

What a cool name, hunh?   Like something Walt Disney would come up with:  Now we put the caterpillar in this little green envelope and then voila!  the imagination cells go blinkety blinkety presto chango and tranformagination magic happens!

But it is sort of like that.  The imaginal cells are like stem cells.  They can become anything.

In the case of the caterpillar, they become wings.  A few parts of the caterpillar remain.  The legs are more or less the same.  There are fewer of them, of course.

Are you getting the picture here?

We are inside the chrysalis.

Things have fallen apart.

Now, Before the Knife

This Thursday, April 11, Gov. Brown's plan to shift Adult Ed out of the K-12 programs and solely into the Community College system, will go before the following Senate subcommittee:

 senator.block@senate.ca.gov (Marty Block, chair)
Senator.Wright@senate.ca.gov (Senator Roderick D. Wright)
senator.wyland@sen.ca.gov (Senator Mark Wyland)

Now is the time to contact these committee members and tell them Gov. Brown's plan is not what is best for California.  You can refer them to the petition.  You can refer them to this blog.  You can describe, in your own words, what YOU think is best for Adult Education.

We can and should keep Adult Education as it has been for many, many years:  primarily in K12 districts with a few programs within Community Colleges.  We can and should keep serving immigrants, parents, job seekers, and seniors.  There is no need to make massive changes in how Adult Ed is delivered or what it delivers.  It does a bang-up job of supporting California.

The problem is the money.

Perspective: Larry Teshara, SMAS Director

At San Mateo Adult School, we are lucky to have Larry Teshara, 2012 ACSA Administrator of the Year, as our Director.

Mr. Teshara has experience in both Adult Education and K-12. 

Here he shares his thoughts on the value of providing Adult Education under the auspices of K-12 Districts.

February 28, 2013

Lawrence Teshara
Director San Mateo Adult School
San Mateo Union High School District

In 2002, I was given the opportunity to provide testimony, on behalf of the ACSA State Adult Education Council, to the California Legislative Joint Committee on the Master Plan for Education in California. Specifically the plan included the now infamous recommendation #38 to transfer all Adult Education to the Community Colleges. The idea was impractical then and remains so now. Reviewing my testimony today, our arguments on behalf of maintaining basic adult education programs with K12 districts remain valid. In reality our position is more compelling now than a decade ago.

Accessibility gives our programs a real advantage. We provide a safe, familiar neighborhood environment for our students. We are open to those whose educational needs demand flexibility. Our students are working and many are raising families. We are not tied to fixed quarters or semesters, unrealistic attendance policies, or arbitrary schedules that serve the organization but not the student. Such a rigid structure is necessary for colleges because they are awarding academic credit for their classes. We are not. We are close to public transportation and bicycle accessible.

We remain low or no cost making learning English or gaining basic skills available to all. Historically our cost per student was a fraction of that of any other educational program, public or private. Before 2009, our ADA allotment was the lowest of any public school program. We did, and continue to do, a lot with a little. We are a taxpayer friendly program. If the same dollars spent by our district on adult education were transferred to the community colleges, the result would necessarily be many fewer students served. Those not being served would likely be the most needy due to limited access.

Our students are not the natural constituents of a community college. The colleges are already under pressure to serve their primary mission, to advance students on to universities or provide them with vocational certifications; hopefully within a four semester time frame. Our students are not going to help them meet their goals. Our mission is to make students ready to be successful in those community college programs. Evidence show that lack of basic English language skills and/ or high school fundamentals is the major reason for high student attrition in the colleges. There is no evidence that community colleges in our area have any interest in taking on this additional responsibility.

And some very recent developments validate our position:

I am a resident of San Francisco. Our local community college is faced with draconian reductions, perhaps loss of accreditation, due to lack of any cost containment. Years ago San Francisco Unified essentially turned over all adult education programs to the college district. They are offering non-credit adult education programs at a cost far greater than K12 Adult Schools. That is a big part of their financial morass.

Immigration reform is on the horizon. Already stop-gap measures are in place. All sides of the
debate consider learning English essential. The law specifically speaks of seeking a high school diploma or G.E.D. Citizenship preparation is mentioned. Who will provide these services in the most accessible and tax-payer friendly environment? We believe K12 Adult Education remains the answer.

We understand the overall theme of the Governor’s funding proposal is to provide additional resources for communities with large number of students with limited English skills or living in poverty. A worthy goal to be sure. What the Governor does not understand is that our students are the parents, guardians, family and neighbors of those same school children. They are setting a great example in their own homes by attending school. We need to place fewer, not more, obstacles in the way of their achieving their goal.

Larry Teshara
Director
San Mateo Adult & Community Education 

 

 

 

"Mr. T" - as we know him

 

 

Perspective: Bruce Neuberger

Bruce Neuberger is a long-time ESL teacher at both our school, San Mateo Adult School, and at CCSF (City College of San Francisco).

Bruce is one of the few teachers who has the unique perspective of working within both systems.

Note:  In most of California, Adult Education is delivered through high school districts.  This is the case at SMAS.  But in some areas - such as San Francisco - it is delivered through the community college district.

Also:  Gov. Brown would like to have all adult education delivered through only the community college systems.   In general, the Adult Education community, and many people in the community college system, and the Legislative Analyst Office, do not think this is a good idea.

Bruce spoke at the CCAE Bay Section Conference this past Saturday, Feb 23rd.

(Bruce is seated at the center of the table.

Dr. Bob Harper is at the podium.)

Here are his remarks:

This has been quite a year.  Last spring we were embroiled in a struggle that was greatly heightened by the realization of just how many hundreds of thousands of people were lost to adult schools across the state – victims of so-called flexibility.  And then, faced with the devastating prospect of the Weighted Student Formula we worked to defeat that. At San Mateo adult school we held a press conference in June to denounce it and try to reach a broader public ear.  And no sooner had that threat diminished some, than the other school where I teach, Community College of San Francisco was put on Show Cause status, by the ACCJC, the educational equivalent of a mafia hit squad – a private accreditation agency partially funded by the Lumina Foundation, and overseen by people connected to the for-profit education industry.  (The ACCJC is authorized to operate by the U.S. dept. of education and overseen by a National Advisory Committee -- NACIQI National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity --  whose vice chair, Arthur Rothkopf was senior vice president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce from 2005 to 2010 and board member of the Educational Testing Service, Inc.  The NACIQI panel includes the president of the University of Phoenix, the largest for profit college in the U.S. ) 

In both these situations it’s been very gratifying and uplifting to see the way people have come forward together, the teachers, staff and administrators at San Mateo, supported by the eloquent and really moving testimony of many students speaking to the importance of adult schools, how it changed and enriched their lives. 

The Wheel Turns

It's been an amazing year.

This time last year, things didn't look good.  Adult Ed was hardly on the map of the public's mind.

This made it easy to slice and dice it when the state faced a budget crisis.

And hard to explain what Adult Ed is and how it is funded - which is darned complicated, anyway.

In such a situation, we always have choices.

We can give up.  Life is hard and people are stressed and good things are hard to save and do and create.

Or we can stand up.

In It Together

Well, it's almost here... election time. 

Some school boards have passed resolutions in support of  Prop 30.

Ours has not.  That doesn't mean it is against Prop 30.  It just means it didn't vote on a formal recommendation.

We here at the San Mateo Adult School cannot tell you how to vote.

We can tell you there will be big - very big - trigger cuts if Prop 30 does not pass.

But we cannot tell you how to vote.

And indeed, perhaps if it fails, some other way to educate Californians would emerge - public, private, good, or bad.

I don't know.

I am here to talk about something else:

Hit the "read more" link to find out what.

Thoughts in This Time of "Crisis"

Teacher Bruce Neuberger shares these thoughts:

I went out with some Prop 30 materials Friday after class.  I went to some local stores, Los Primos, a cleaner next to that, some other businesses up around 3rd and B.  I ran out of materials very quickly.  The response was very positive especially when I identified myself from the Adult School.  It occurred to me, we've been looking at this work around the propositions as a "task to be done", "burdened to be carried", etc.  Actually, I now feel like it's a great opportunity, one that we should not pass up.  It's an excuse to walk in the doors of these stores and find out how people feel and give them info that they may not have.  There are so many ways inwhich we are connected to these store people -- one told me his wife and mother have both attended the school, others had workers attending or had attended, others friends, etc.  When I got back to school I talked to Toshio and Cynthia and another idea came up -- mobilize those willing and able among our students to go with us to these areas.  There are a lot of advantages to this.  And it's not just about the propositions, it's also a longer term issue.  

 

I very strongly feel we need to do this.  Remember Chicago.  Their success came largely from developing ties with the community.  The school is a community resource, and the community is our base, and in the final analysis, the strength that we have.

Students and staff planting trees in the school comunity garden.

From myself (Teacher Cynthia):

I agree with Bruce. 


It's about community.

Yes, things are difficult.

Yes, we don't know the ultimate outcome.

Yes, it is easy and even likely that given those two things, we will feel powerlesss, overwhelmed, and discouraged...  all of which make it more likely that the outcome will be bad.

And yet... by considering what is important to us... and then making a choice about what we want... and then choosing to work for it... 

We not only feel powerful, energized and encouraged... we make it more likely that the outcome will be good.

Is there every a sure thing?

More importantly, do we need a sure thing in order to engage in the process?

If we need to know the outcome in advance before we engage in the process, we are emotional three year olds, stamping out feet and loudly announcing, "I won't do this because I want what I want and unless you give it to me without my doing anything or unless I know for sure that my doing something I don't like doing will give me what I want... I won't do it!"

And guess what happens to three year olds when they do that?

Well, it varies, family to family.

But sure as heck, they are not put in charge.  They don't end up driving the car, deciding where the family lives, or what happens tomorrow, next month or next year.

I for one, want some measure of choice about what happens to the school where I work, the community where I live, and the future where I hope to live - with my friends and my family and my neighbors - tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow.

And if the price of that is surrendering control...

If the price of that is participating in a process where the outcome is unknown...

where it might not go "my way" -

then I'm willing to pay it.

Because what I really want, in the long run, is a way that is not about "sure things" and "known outcomes" and "guarantees."

"Known" shuts the door on the unknown and its in the unknown that we often we find the answers we're looking for.

How we do create a good, sustainable, way to educate the people of California?

I don't know.

But I want to be part of the process of finding that out.

Won't you join me?

The ancient Chinese symbol for crisis, wei-chi, combines two elements: danger and opportunity. The danger is that if one continues to pursue approaches that are no longer working, then disaster is imminent. The opportunity is to let go of the old patterns and find new ways of being that unleash new, and possibly unforeseen, potentials.

What We Agree On

Articles of interest:

"Will The Munger Kids Kill California Schools?"  The American Prospect, Oct 11, 2012.
More on how Molly and Charles, Jr. while engaged in what appears to be sibling rivalry, work in common purpose to ensure the defeat of Prop 30.

Prop 30's Donors Include Big Companies,"  The San Francisco Chronicle, Oct 15, 2012.
A new interesting twist:  Big Business seems to be coming around to the idea that public education is good and important.  One can analyze that many ways but in all ways this development is important.

"Prop 38 Proponent To Stop Airing TV Ad Critical of Prop 30,"  The Los Angeles Times, Oct 16, 2012.  Looks like Munger's own supporters pressured her into removing the attack ad on Prop 30. 

My own take-away on all this:

Millions and millions of Californians - young, old, rich, poor, big business, small business, coastal, inland, north, south - are recognizing that education matters.

How we pay for what we pay for - we do not yet agree on.

But we all agree:  Education matters.

That's a good place to start.

                                                           Where this blog started.

Showing Support

San Mateo Adult School staff show their support for public schoolteachers in Chicago.

All over California and all over the United States, public educators are being villianized.

Personally, I find it hard to believe that we are responsible for all the ills of this nation.  That, of course, is my personal opinion.

But I am pretty much convinced that we are not responsible for the surge in childhood obesity, the collapse of Wall Street, obsession with celebrity, or global warming.

Most of us, in fact, want to educate people  - young, old and in between - so that those people who have the talent to address those challenges have the skills to do so.

There's an old saying, "Those who can, do.  Those who can't, teach."

I don't mind that saying.

None of us can do everything.

What we in education strive to do is to empower those who can to do so.

But as in all endeavors that are essentially supportive, our participation in the result is invisible.

We appear to have no part in it. 

We appear to have done nothing.

And yet, if you ask successful people what lies behind their success, you will often find out that education of some kind was a key part of it. 

A good teacher, like a good gardener, produces great fruit, but does not him or herself appear for sale at the market.

Yet without the work of the teacher or gardener, there is no market.

Showing support is not only about standing up for each other.

It's about pulling back the curtain on success to reveal what lies behind it.

And very often what's behind it is good schooling.

Let's make sure that school remains accessible to all.

A privileged few may enjoy the fruits available only to them.

But those few may not have the talent to heal the scourge that may bring down the entire orchard.

The geniuses who have the talents to solve our current problems might not be enrolled at Harvard.  They might be sitting in the kindergarten classroom of a school that's just been cut yet again, upping the class size and reducing the school year, eliminating PE, the arts, and music, and other programs that actuallly develop the brain.   Or they may be learning English at an Adult School.  Or getting their GED.  Or studying at a community college.

Or not attending any school at all.

There's no substitute for good, accessible public education.

Show your support.

- Cynthia Eagleton


9/19/2012 - Here's a video about Chicago Teachers' Strike - which is now over.

9/19/2012 Here is Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis' interview on the radio program Democracy Now.  

Catch up from the Pitcher

Hi Folks,

My name is Cynthia Eagleton.

That's me, right here:

I've been running this blog pretty much by myself... and recently not running it much at all.

I got sick.  I'm a single mom.  School started for my daughter.  And there's been a health crisis in my family.  There's been a lot going on, actually.  Sometimes I'm pretty crabby about it.  (Just ask my mom.)

When I started this blog last year, I felt I was answering a call.

Now I'm answering a different sort of call, this one more personal.

They are both important.

So here's the deal: