Berkeley Adult School blog

We are into our last week of classes for this school year, and we want to say “Thank You” to our students, faculty, staff, community, district administration and the BUSD Board of Education. This Wednesday, June 15 at 7 p.m. Berkeley Adult School (established 1881) hosts our annual High School Diploma and General Educational Development (GED) Commencement Ceremony. This year, BAS graduates 149 High School Diploma students and 22 GED students, ranging in age from 18 to 52. We are very proud of our adult graduates and wish them the very best on their next journey in life.

BAS will be closed for the summer (with the exception of a 5 week program for BUSD Middle Schools) and the fall semester begins on August 30 for Academic and ESL classes. Most other classes begin after Labor Day, on September 6. Check our main website here for updated information on classes and registration, and look for our fall 2011 catalog in mid August.

Noteworthy: The popular local blog, Berkeleyside recently published an article about the Alameda County Office of Education proposal to open a Community School classroom on our campus. You can view it here. I will post any significant news over the summer on this blog.

On the legislative front, here is a perspective from CCAE President, Mike Wada:

Regarding Assembly Bill (AB) 189 - Politically, if a committee chair authors a bill, the members of that house usually go along in order not to have their bills squashed by that chair in the future. Adjustments to the bill are made when the bill reaches the opposite house. This is just life in politics. Our Legislative Analyst, Jeff Frost, also had this to say: In a perfect world, it would have been nice to be able to move a bill that protected a significant percentage of adult education funds from being subject to redirection to K-12 programs. However, given the Governor’s desire to extend flexibility for 2 years (language to do this is contained in the budget bill now on the floors of each house) and the support for this from a vast majority of legislators of both parties, it would not have been possible to move the bill in its original form out of its first committee. In fact, the author and I met with Julia Brownley, the Education Committee chair, and she indicated that it would be very difficult for her to support a bill that “tied the hands of local board” in how they used categorical flexibility given that program cuts are still being made due to budget reductions by the state.

While the amended version of the bill does not provide the type of protection for adult education that CCAE wanted to achieve, it does make a strong statement about the need to ensure that local boards cannot close adult programs. In fact, the bill makes two very strong statements: 1) the bill states that categorical flexibility is for the purpose of addressing the current fiscal emergency and is intended to last only for the duration of this fiscal emergency, and 2) it states legislative intent that in making its determination about staffing for adult education, and the other programs designated in the bill, a district must ensure that there are an adequate number of administrative and credentialed teaching staff to provide a baseline level of core courses during the period that funding flexibility is authorized. These are important points and will help community members and adult programs staff advocate for protecting adult education programs as local boards are considering making deeper cuts or closing entire program

AB 18, which CCAE opposes unless amended, is authored by a committee chair. When the vote was taken, only two Assembly members registered a "No" vote: Tony Mendoza and Sandre Swanson, who are both co-authors on our AB 189. They stick out like sore thumbs.

They could have chosen the customary and accepted path, yet, they stood up for adult education. This is a remarkable display of a "portrait in courage."

CCAE Bay Section members (Swanson) and South Coast Section (Mendoza) should contact them to offer their thanks and appreciation. I have already done so.

Tony Mendoza
assemblymember.mendoza@assembly.ca.gov
916-319-2056 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting            916-319-2056      end_of_the_skype_highlighting

Sandre Swanson
assemblymember.swanson@assembly.ca.gov
916-319-2016 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting            916-319-2016      end_of_the_skype_highlighting

In addition to our state Adult Education advocacy from CCAE, nationally the Commission on Adult Basic Education (COABE) has active lobbying efforts going on. If you care about adult education, support these organizations by becoming a member.