There is an important discussion going on about the future of Adult Education. Does Adult Education belong and fit into the mission and goals of local K-12 school districts, or should the money go to the Community Colleges? What are the implications of shifting the funds to colleges? Will the students follow the trail, and can they access that system? We are interested in hearing your thoughts. 

Oped: Why we should care about adult education

http://www.presstelegram.com/opinions/ci_20701843/oped-why-we-should-care-about-adult-education

Weighted Student Formula Eliminates Adult Education

The major school finance reform of the year continues to be the Governor’s proposal for changing the manner in which school districts are funded. The proposal would collapse all categoricals into one funding pot. It needs to be clear to all that Adult Education would be subsumed in the per-pupil funding to school districts. This is the extreme version of categorical flexibility, and it is devastating to Adult Education.

Without any evident and strong opposition to the formula, it appears that the Governor’s proposal will be enacted during this 2012 legislative session.

Weighted Student Formula Supersedes Categorical Flexibility

Categorical flexibility is due to end in 2015. Should the weighted student formula proposal be enacted, it would take precedence over the end date, thereby creating a “super” version of categorical flexibility, which would lead to the further elimination of Adult Education programs throughout the state.

Continued Lack of Specific Data on Cuts to Adult Education

Without any requirement for the state to collect data, the challenge has been to gather accurate numbers on the funds being swept at the local level due to categorical flexibility. Recognizing this void and the importance of collecting this data, Montebello Adult School initiated a self-reported survey to obtain information on program cuts resulting from flexibility.  Their regularly updated survey of over 160 programs indicates that at least 60% of Adult Education funds have been swept for other purposes.

Nothing to Backfill Loss of Adult Education

As cuts are made to Adult Education, nothing has been proposed at the state level to address the educational needs of an adult population that includes 5.4 million individuals without a diploma or GED. Meanwhile, the economy of California is dependent on this population advancing to both post secondary education and workforce development.

Major Issues Affecting the Education of Adults can be addressed by:

• Removing Adult Education from categorical flexibility, and
• Removing Adult Education from the proposed weighted student formula.

Contact local and State Legislators and advocate for the above, and support our professional organization, CCAE (California Council for Adult Education). 

Charles A. Young who lived at 666 Cragmont Ave. in 1940 enrolled at Berkeley Night Trade School. He was a member of the first astronomy class making large telescopes. When he died in 1968 the Cassegrainian-Gregorian telescope that he had built was donated to a school in Berkeley. The observatory is still a part of the Berkeley hills skyline, but who knows where the telescope is?

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150916008504309&set=a.10150733062094309.422001.529934308&type=1&theater

We are calling on students, staff, friends, community partners, and anyone who would like to see Adult Education continue and not go away. Join with the California Council for Adult Education (CCAE) as we fight to keep funding in adult education in California.

It's easy to get involved and make a difference. It's free and there are no strings attached.

Please promote sign up through as many people as possible in your sections and chapters.

Click the button "Join the Fight for Adult Education" on the CCAE website.

As of May 10, 2012, we have over 492 supporters! Keep spreading the word!

If you like Berkeley Adult School, please join the fight to save Adult Education. Complete this quick simple survey NOW https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/SupportAdultEdinCA


The starship Enterprise was a metaphor starship Earth, and the vision was that the strength of this starship lay in its diversity.--GEORGE TAKEI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQAmQYc2X6A&feature=share

Both my mother and my father went to Adult School and graduated from High School. All of their children went to college and graduated.--Edward James Olmos http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnY7hmYNMAw&noredirect=1

CCAE STRONGLY OPPOSES the Governor's Weighted Student Formula. We need your immediate assistance! Please submit your letter of opposition today! (sample attached)

As you may know, the Governor's proposed Weighted Student Formula (WSF) would consolidate most categorical programs and would no longer provide funding for adult education as it would all be consolidated and provided to districts on a weighted basis for K-12 students only. This ultimately leaves adults in need of basic skills, GEDs, English as a Second Language (ESL) classes, short-term career technical training, and more without any options. The populations most affected by this will be underserved and disadvantaged adults who are in desperate need of these services.

With the Governor set to release his May Revise Monday, May 14th and the Legislature gearing up to make decisions related to the future of adult education as it relates to the WF budget proposal, the next few weeks will be critical to sustaining adult education in California. It is essential that our voices be heard in Sacramento .

OPPOSITION LETTERS - SEND IMMEDIATELY!

Please mail, email, and fax letters to your Assembly and Senate Representatives urging them to oppose the Governor's Weighted Student Formula and to protect adult education. In addition to sending letters, please place calls and schedule meetings (member or staff) to discuss the importance of protecting adult education and our opposition to the Governor's proposed budget plan. Please ask your staff, family, friends, students and more to also send letters and place calls. Additionally, the following members are members of the various ethnic caucuses who have long been champions for adult education and those that rely on our programs and services. For those of you within the following members' districts, CCAE encourages you to double your efforts.

Identify Your Legislators (Senate & Assembly)
See http://192.234.213.69/amapsearch/
***Important to note that in order to find "your" legislators (Senate & Assembly), you must enter your HOME address. (This information will not be collected or retained; it is just purely to correctly identify who your representatives are based on your voting address.)

Asian & Pacific Islander Legislative Caucus
Assemblymember Warren Furutani, Chair
Assemblymember Mary Hayashi
Assemblymember Mike Eng
Assemblymember Paul Fong
Senator Ted Lieu
Senator Carol Liu
Assemblymember Fiona Ma
Assemblymember Richard Pan
Assemblymember Mariko Yamada
Assemblymember Das Williams


Legislative Black Caucus

Senator Curren Price, Chair Assemblymember Mike Davis
Assemblymember Wilmer Amina Carter
Assemblymember Holly Mitchell
Assemblymember Isadore Hall
Assemblymember Steven C. Bradford
Assemblymember Sandre Swanson
Senator Rod Wright

Latino Legislative Caucus
Assemblymember Ricardo Lara, Chair
Assemblymember Luis Alejo
Assemblymember Michael Allen
Assemblymember Charles Calderón
Senator Ron Calderon, Vice Chair
Assemblymember Nora Campos
Senator Lou Correa
Assemblymember Gilbert Cedillo
Senator Kevin De León
Assemblymember Felipe Fuentes
Senator Ed Hernández
Assemblymember Roger Hernández
Assemblymember Ben Hueso
Assemblymember Tony Mendoza,
Senator Gloria Negrete McLeod
Senator Alex Padilla
Assemblymember Henry T. Perea
Assemblymember John A. Pérez
Assemblymember V. Manuel Pérez
Senator Michael J. Rubio
Assemblymember Jose Solorio
Assemblymember Norma J. Torres
Senator Juan Vargas

CCAE's Legislative Advocate has prepared a sample letter for ease of use (attached). We encourage you to personalize the letter with your district-specific impacts and perspectives. A copy will also be downloadable from the website very shortly. Be sure to copy membership@ccaestate.org or fax a copy to 866-941-5129 so we may present hard copies while lobbying the issue.

We greatly appreciate your help generating as many letters, calls, and meetings as possible. In order to prevent the passage of this harmful proposal that will ensure the elimination of adult education in California, it is critical that you take action and fast! Thank you for your time and assistance on this important matter. Be sure to let as many people as possible know about the option to join the fight to keep funding in adult education. Click here for more details <http://ccaestate.org/> .


STRENGTH IN NUMBERS!

WASC Visiting Committee Report

Our WASC Accreditation process is now complete, and the Visiting Committee's report is available on our website at: http://bas.berkeley.net/PDFs/WASC-BerkeleyFinal.pdf


Thanks to our entire staff for their participation, and to the Visiting Committee for their review and findings. We are confident and hopeful for a renewed 6 year term. 

More news and updates at Berkeley Adult School on Facebook

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.

We have posted our Accreditation Self Study Report. A Visiting Committee representing the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) will be at our school from April 22-25, and we hope they will validate our report and offer us critical feedback to maintain our excellent standing with WASC. Check it out!

Berkeley Adult School Self Study Report submitted to WASC (Western Association of Schools and Colleges)