Important upcoming dates...

Wednesday, April 13th, 4:00 pm - Open Forum for BAS staff

Thursday, April 14th, 11:30 am - Open Forum for BAS staff

Thursday, April 14th, 6:00 pm - BUSD Budget Advisory Meeting, 1720 Oregon Street

Friday, April 15th, 2:00 pm - BAS Classified Staff Meeting

April 17th-21st, CCAE/COABE National Conference, SF

Wednesday, April 20th, 10:00 am, BAS Principal's Cabinet Meeting

Update on AB189 (legislation to protect Adult Education funding)

Updates from our colleagues, Cyndi Parulan-Colfer, CCAE State Legislative Chair and Mike Wada, CCAE State President:

AB 189, the bill sponsored and supported by CCAE, passed through the California State Assembly's  education Committee on 3/30/11 with 8 "yes" votes. 

This is only the first step, but an important one. The bill will now go the the Appropriations Committee hearing in mid-May.

We will continue to ask for your help through letter writing and working with your elected representatives, and please continue to communicate with them about how our programs are critical services for the under-served and under-represented in their community.

Our friends at Montebello Adult have identified that the Assembly Ed Committee hearing on AB 189 is on the California Channel website. Go to: http://www.calchannel.com/channel/viewVideo/2237

Use the scroll bar to go to about the 12 minute mark. This will give you a very good idea how others view categorical programs, flexibility, etc. By the way, although we received a 7-0 vote in the video, we received another vote later on to make it 8-0 (7 Democrats and 1 Republican), with 3 Republicans either abstaining or not voting.

Next stop is at Assembly Appropriations in May.

Community School Classroom at
Berkeley Adult School 
Frequently Asked Questions

How many students will be in the program?

There will be 15 classroom students and 30 Independent Study student (one at a time); a total of 16 maximum students on campus at any given time.

Where are these students coming from?

The students are from Northern Alameda County.

How many teachers? How many adults? 

Two teachers and one Instructional Assistant (3 adults) will staff the program.

Why are you recommending locating the program at the BAS? 

Berkeley Adult School is located along a convenient transportation corridor, has available facilities and we would be serving our students who currently must travel to Hayward to school. California Ed Code does not allow for this type of programming on a K-12 campus.  The students must be separated from regular K-12 campuses.   CA Ed. Code 48661. (a) A community day school shall not be situated on the same site as an elementary, middle, junior high, comprehensive senior high, opportunity, or continuation school.

What steps do you think are necessary to insure the safety of the other students and the community, and which of these are you implementing? 

The students in the program will be properly supervised and an additional School Safety Officer will be on site.

What can you do to control or monitor the students coming and going to and from school? 

The ACOE has jurisdiction to discipline students for behavior in route to or from school. 

What can you do to control or monitor the students in and around the neighborhood (hanging out, visiting local businesses etc.)? 

The Alameda County Office of Education (ACOE) has jurisdiction to discipline students for behavior issues on or around campus as well as during the school day.  One of the steps for these students to achieve success in the program is to respect their rights.  Most of the students in the program have a strong desire to complete the program successfully, so that they can return to a mainstream public school.  The program is strictly monitored and students who do not abide by the rules do not remain in the program.

What responsibility will the County Office of Education take for these students? 

The ACOE is responsible for monitoring and discipline regarding behavior, attendance and academics.  Their rules are very clearly defined and must be adhered to for a student to remain in the program.

Is this a done deal? 

No. The BUSD Governing Board will decide.  This is the site that will be recommended by staff, because it is the only site in BUSD that is able to facilitate this program.

What is the approval process? 

The BUSD Governing Board will hear staff recommendations and make a decision in the months ahead.

How can we expect to be kept in the loop as this move forward? 

We will communicate every step of the way through the Berkeley Adult School principal, Brad Smith and the School/Neighborhood Committee.  The committee will continue to review this in their regular quarterly meetings.

If this program is approved by the Board, can we have quarterly meetings with a representative committee to review how this and our general relations are going with BAS? 

Yes.  BAS Principal, Burr Guthrie, meets regularly with the neighborhood group.

I assume that the students are scanned for metal objects each time they enter the school. Is that correct?  No, BUSD/BAS do not have the capacity to scan all students for metal objects.

Do we know why the classroom will not be opened this spring?  

Superintendent Huyett has delayed the process to include communication with the community.  Mr. Huyett and the County Superintendent have agreed that it wouldn’t really serve these students to make the transition with only a short time remaining till the end of the school year.  If the classroom location is approved by the BUSD Board, it will open in the fall.

Is the county looking for other places? 

Yes.  In response to the closing of Rock LaFleche School (community day school in North Oakland), ACOE is opening several other classrooms spread throughout the County.  

What if the Board does not approve the proposal?

BUSD is required to provide an educational placement for expelled BUSD students.  Currently, expelled BUSD students attend ACOE’s Hayward Community School.  If the proposal is not approved by the Board, BUSD students will continue to attend HCS if available.  However, if ACOE does not continue to provide a community school for expelled BUSD students, BUSD will need to open a District community day school in Berkeley.  District run community day schools generally operate at a significant financial loss.

Budget update

Although it’s out of date, the California Dept. of Ed. describes us in the following way:

The California Adult Education Program serves state and national interests by providing life-long educational opportunities and support services to all adults. The Adult Education programs address the unique and evolving needs of individuals and communities by providing adults with the knowledge and skills necessary to participate effectively as productive citizens, workers, and family members.

Program Description: The California Education Code sections 52501, 52502, 52503 and California Code of Regulations, Title 5 Section 10560 allows unified or high school districts to establish separate adult schools. The state budget supports these adult schools based on average daily attendance (a.d.a.), which equals to 525 hours per unit of a.d.a. Courses under the following program areas can be funded by state apportionment:

1. Adult Literacy/High School Diploma
2. English as a Second Language/Citizenship
3. Adults with Disabilities
4. Career Technical Education/Apprenticeships
5. Parenting, Family, and Consumer Awareness
6. Older Adults

Benefits and Outcomes: Adult education provides lifelong educational opportunities and services to adult learners. These opportunities and services are to address the unique needs of individuals and communities by providing adults with the knowledge and skills necessary to participate effectively as citizens, workers, family members, and consumers of goods and services.

Adult Education – Federal Program

Program Description: The federal Adult Education and Family Literacy Act, enacted as Title II of the Workforce Investment Act, provides federal funding to supplement adult education programs in both public and private non-profit institutions. These funds supplement Adult Basic Education (ABE), English as a Second Language (ESL), and Adult Secondary Education (ASE) programs. The goal of this program is to enable adults to become more employable, productive, and responsible citizens through literacy.

Now, our ADA is gone and we operate from a block grant based on ADA from 2008-09, and Districts can ‘flex’ as much of that block grant as they need with our current legislation (Tier III - Categorical Flexibility). Berkeley Unified has flexed some of our funds, but overall we are standing strong in comparison to Adult Schools across the state, and we are grateful for the support we receive from our District. 

The BUSD Budget Advisory Committee met on March 15 and shared two budget scenarios: A) California State tax extensions make it on the ballot (and pass) for a June special election and B) tax extensions fail to get on the ballot or to pass voters’ recommendations. See the table below for specifics. 

Good stewardship means that we should be prepared. So, what to do if the District flexes $1million? It used to be a mandate that if an Adult School operated classes within the 6 areas listed above, the school would receive ADA apportionment. Since we don’t earn our own revenue anymore, how do we decide where to scale back, where to cut, which programs to protect, or not? The 2010-11 State Strategic Plan for Adult Education identifies core programs as ESL, Adult Literacy/HS Diploma and CTE. Our District has been somewhat prescriptive regarding BAS reductions, and in fact, as a department of BUSD, our governing board does guide us. How Adult Schools operate is now a local decision. Here are the two budget scenarios prescribed by the BUSD Budget Advisory Committee:

Scenario A
additional fees/reduce programming	225,000
Scenario B
additional fees/reduce programming	225,000
off site classes all fee based	130,000
eliminate subsidy for Inner City Services	80,000
additional reduced programming	600,000
total	1,035,000

We will host two Open Forums in April (following our Spring Break) to share information with our staff on how we approach these two budget scenarios.

Messages to the California Legislature on the importance of Adult Education

George Takei & Edward James Olmos advocate for California Adult Education

BERKELEY UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT

Budget Advisory Meeting

Tuesday, March 15, 2011  

6:00 p.m.  -  8:00 p.m. 

1720 Oregon Street 

Berkeley, CA 94703

• The governor has until next Thursday, March 10th, to get enough votes to put his proposed tax extensions on the June ballot. He needs all the Democrats in the Assembly and the Senate, plus two Republicans from each house to get the measure before the voters. As previously reported on this blog, this has big implications for public education. Stay tuned for updates on this and other important issues affecting Berkeley Adult School. 

• The BUSD Board of Education will hear about a proposal to bring a Community School to the BAS campus this coming Wednesday, March 9th, at 7:30 pm. In addition, we are in the process of scheduling an Information Session for our school community to hear more details about the proposal. 

• Following the above mentioned Information Session, which will be facilitated by our Superintendent, we intend to schedule several Open Forums to discuss our budget and other issues important to our stakeholders. 

A few images from the March 2nd Rally in Defense of Public Education in Berkeley... 

March 2nd Day of Action in Defense of Public Education

Are progressive taxes the price we pay for living in a civilized society?

Governor Jerry Brown's budget-balancing magic includes tax proposals renewing a quarter-percentage point increase in personal income taxes, which expired at the end of 2010, and maintaining a 1 percentage point increase in the sales tax, which will end June 30. The higher rates would remain in effect for five years. For this plan to work, 2/3 of lawmakers must agree to place the tax measure on the ballot, by March. And then of course, voters must approve it in a special election in June.

The governor said it would be "unconscionable" to deny voters the choice between raising taxes or chopping "another $12 billion out of schools, public safety, our universities and our system of caring for the most vulnerable."

Berkeley Unified School District will prepare budgets for two possible scenarios: a) Governor Brown's tax extension gets on the ballot and passes in June, and b) Brown's tax proposals fail. The best case scenario still requires the District to cut $700,000, and worst case is $3.7 million.

What are the implications for BAS? I don't read tea leaves, but we need to examine our fee structure, prioritize our offerings and prepare for possible cuts.

From Berkeley Federation of Teachers: “As you know, Wednesday, March 2nd, is this year's Statewide Day of Action in Defense of Public Education in California. With funding for K-12 education dependent on tax extensions to be placed on a June ballot, and large cuts proposed for child care, preschool and higher education, it's critical that all of us stand up and say "Enough! We must protect public education in our state.

As in the past the Berkeley Federation of Teachers and the Berkeley Council of Classified Employees are planning a family-friendly local event so folks can participate in this day right here in our own community. From 4:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. we are asking parents, students, teachers, classified staff, administrators and community members to walk from a BUSD site to the BUSD Administration building. We will have signs and leaflets to help our citizens understand the crisis we face in our state.

At 4:30 p.m. we will have a spirited rally at the Admin building at 2134 MLK Jr. Way meant to educate and to inspire us all to action. Student speakers will be featured. The Brass Liberation Orchestra will be on hand, and some incredible social justice art pieces will energize us all. Working together we will send a strong message that we need to restore the promise of our state, and that progressive taxes are the price we pay for living in a civilized society.

We hope you will join us on March 2nd. You can get more information by contacting the BFT or BCCE site reps at your school, or by calling BFT at 549-2307 or BCCE at 540-5002. We encourage you to wear red on this day (we will be talking about why we should all be "seeing red" over the state of public education funding in our state and over events in Wisconsin and Ohio).

Kaizen and accreditation

Any organization worth its weight in salt understands the value of self-study and responding to feedback from stakeholders. We are passionate advocates for social justice and the current state of Adult Education requires a hard look at our services to determine how we can improve. No longer are we chasing enrollment-based funding (ADA), and since we don’t earn money from participation, it’s about quality, not quantity. Statewide, adult schools are eliminating or reducing services as school districts continue to ‘flex’ adult school budgets. We must be nimble and ensure we’re serving our students’ needs with measurable outcomes.

Kaizen (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaizen) is a philosophy of continuous improvement that I learned about in college, read about in a popular periodical a few years ago, and recently heard a colleague refer to regarding her adult school’s guiding principle.  The reason I mention Kaizen is that Berkeley Adult School is up for review by our accrediting agency, the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (http://www.wascweb.org/). WASC accreditation is a self-study process which is laborious and has associated costs. All schools in BUSD are WASC accredited, as are all UC and State Universities.  Courses taken in WASC accredited institutions are recognized by a majority of private and public schools, and that’s important to our academic students, who may transition to University.

So, it is a process worth embracing for a variety of reasons. Burr, LaRanda and Mel will be leading this process, and we will be addressing our self-study in leadership and department meetings for the next twelve months. A Visiting Committee from WASC will spend 4 days at BAS in March 2012, reviewing our programs and checking for alignment with our self-study document, which we are now assembling. The self-study includes a comprehensive profile of BAS and identifies areas of growth with action plans facilitating improvement. We are looking forward to your participation and contribution to the accreditation process.