Berkeley Adult School blog

April 9, 2012

The Honorable Jerry Brown

Governor, State of California

State Capitol
Sacramento, CA 95814

Members, California State Senate

State Capitol

Sacramento, CA 95814

Members, California State Assembly

State Capitol

Sacramento, CA 95814

RE: Adult Education on the Brink of Elimination

Dear Governor Brown and Honorable Members:

On behalf of the California Adult Education Administrators Association (CAEAA), the Association of California School Administrators (ACSA) and the California Council for Adult Education (CCAE) we implore you to take action to save adult education in California. As you know, categorical programs such as adult education have experienced severe cuts - if not outright elimination - under the flexibility proposal enacted as part of the FY 2008-2009 budget.

Since 2010, over 30 adult schools have closed and over 40 have had their budgets cut by more than 50%. This month, the Los Angeles Unified School District school board will vote to close its adult education program - the largest in the state - to offset a nearly half-billion-dollar budget deficit. The increasing economic pressure on school districts to balance their budgets has put them in the untenable and unfortunate position of pitting one program against another. When forced to prioritize instructional services for youth or adults, the choice is obvious and painful.

At its peak in 2005, nearly 1.4 million Californians were enrolled in adult education programs ranging from English as a Second Language (ESL) and citizenship to GED and basic skills to workforce and career technical training. The majority attended adult schools operated in 294 K-12 districts while approximately 60,000 students attended the noncredit basic skills programs in 45 community college districts. These educational programs play an integral role in providing the means and opportunity for these students to prepare themselves for successful entry into the workforce, support their families and contribute to the state’s economy growth.

In utilizing adult education programs, they become contributing members of society and responsive and involved parents that translates into tremendous budgetary savings in the child welfare and public safety arenas by lessening their involvement in child welfare services and decreasing the likelihood of committing crimes or reoffending - prevention at its finest.

The bottom line is that adult education is too important to allow it to be eliminated. While we can appreciate the difficulties school districts are facing, the success of K-12 students depends on the success and engagement of their parents and community. In many districts, K-12 students' parents are the ones relying on the dwindling adult education programs the most. Furthermore, the consolidation of other K-12 categorical programs will fund supplemental services for students (K-12) who will always have a seat in a classroom. When adult schools close, however, there is no place for adult students to go for these basic skills and programs -this leaves them disenfranchised with no options.

With the intense focus on deficit reduction in California as a result of year-over-year budget shortfalls, the very real economic benefits derived from the state’s public investment in adult education and workforce development programs have been overlooked and decimated. Numerous studies have shown that even in difficult economic times a preemptive focus on adult education actually saves governments money by reducing societal healthcare, public assistance and incarceration costs. Adult education also improves and expands the nation’s available pool of human capital by helping motivated but under educated people achieve gainful employment in today’s increasingly high-tech and global job market. Adult education and career technical training are potentially the most cost-effective tools the state has to recover its economic health.

Adult education is an investment in the future of our state and our families, as research shows that better educated parents raise better educated, more successful children, who are less likely to end up in poverty or prison. In this regard, March 12-15 was proclaimed Adult Education week in communities throughout the state. However, the proclamation is bitterly ironic. While we celebrate the success of adult education, others begin to mourn its impending demise if nothing is done to stop it. We strongly urge you to remove adult education from categorical flexibility and reinstitute it as its own standalone education program.

We look forward to working with you to accomplish this goal and develop a framework that maintains the Governor’s desire for local control and sets up an accountability system to ensure successful outcomes for adult education students that will ultimately help pull the state out of the current economic downturn. If you have any questions or would like to discuss these issues further, please contact Dawn Koepke with McHugh, Koepke & Associates at (916) 930-1993, CAEAA and CCAE’s legislative advocate or Laura Preston ACSA’s Adult Ed Council Legislative advocate at (916) 329-3807. Thank you!

Sincerely,

Cyndi Parulan-Colfer

President

CA Adult Education Administrators Assoc. (CAEAA)

Rocky Bettar

President

Assoc. of CA School Administrators (ACSA) Adult Ed

Christian Nelson

President

CA Council for Adult Education (CCAE)

cc:

The Honorable Tom Torlakson, Superintendent, CA Department of Education (CDE)

Department of Finance

Legislative Analyst’s Office

Ms. Sue Bird, Advisor, Office of the Governor

Mr. William Ellerbee, Deputy Superintendent, Special Services & Support Branch, CDE

Ms. Patricia Terry, Adult Education Office Administrator, CDE

Mr. Gordon Jackson, Director, Coordinated Student Support & Adult Education Div., CDE

Association of California School Administrators (ACSA)

Members, California Adult Education Administrators Association (CAEAA)
Members, California Council of Adult Education (CCAE)

The California Adult Education Administrators' Association (CAEAA) is a statewide organization open to administrators or management personnel who work in, or support, adult education programs. Association activities are dedicated to increasing public awareness of adult education services and to developing and promoting legislation to further the positive effects adult education has on individual students as well as on state of California’s social, economic, and political systems.

Since 1943 and as the largest professional organization in its field, the California Council for Adult Education (CCAE) has worked to serve all levels of the adult education family including teachers, classified employees, students and administrators. CCAE sponsors and engages on legislation and budgetary matters that affect adult schools, adult education, adult students and communities. It also serves as a resource, providing professional development opportunities for all of its members.

The Purpose of the ACSA Adult Education Council: To identify and study issues relating to adult education; To recommend legislative positions to ACSA and advocate for legislation that advances public adult education statewide; To actively enhance and promote adult education’s business, industry, and the community at large; To plan and coordinate professional growth opportunities for administrators of adult education program.