Hearing re: Governor’s Weighted Formula for Education Funding and Adult Education –CCAE Report

Good evening.

 

With the release of the Governor’s May revise proposal Monday, the Senate and Assembly have begun scheduling hearings to review the revised proposals.

In this regard, Senate Budget Sub#3 (Education) met this morning to hear from the Administration, Finance, the LAO and CDE about the Governor’s revisions to the Weighted Student Formula (WSF) and block mandates proposals. In addition to attendance by Senator Rod Wright and Chairwoman Carol Liu, the committee hearing hosted Senator Mark Leno – Chair of the Senate Budget Committee. Senator Leno had the opportunity to take a deeper dive in to the Governor’s proposals, ask questions and hear directly from stakeholders regarding the concerns with the proposals.

 

The public comment portion of the hearing was diverse in comments, but not as lengthy as has been characteristic of prior hearings – likely due to the expedited nature of scheduling the hearing post May Revise. Nevertheless, categorical interests made a strong showing with adult education receiving support from ACSA’s representative and the business community who also cited the need to protect other programs like apprenticeship as well.  CAEAA and CCAE were both represented through comments I provided to the Committee to continue to hammer on the devastation related to flex (current) and what would be cemented under the WSF.  Further, I noted the need to take a closer look at and have an in-depth discussion about what both have/would do to adult education and other adult-related programs for those students who would not otherwise have a seat in the classroom. This comment, in particular, was an effort to highlight and promote comments made by CDE about the need to consider the cuts to programs like adult education and the devastation flex has wreaked to date.

 

Additionally, the ever thought-provoking Senator Wright challenged the Administration, Finance and LAO about whether throwing money (at any level) guarantees success of a K-12 student. He argued that external familial and economic pressures often impact and are the driving factors in whether a child will do well in school versus having all the school resources possible. I suggested that many of these external factors can be addressed – at least in part, if not all – by adult education and the opportunity it provides those parents.

 

In closing, I echoed comments made by CDE about AB 18 as an alternative that gets to a lot of the similar goals and approaches of the Governor’s plan.

The difference, I noted, is that it acknowledges that adult education should be treated differently – similar to Preschool under the Governor’s WSF, which they’ve indicated would not be consolidated as “it is not a K-12 program.” How can the Administration suggest there is a justifiable difference between excluding preschool on these grounds, but not adult education?

 

Again, Chairwoman Liu was sympathetic and nodding her head through my comments. In a side bar conversation post-hearing, she indicated she does understand the desperate need to do something for adult education and offered a glimmer of hope into helping the field in some way as we move forward in the budget process. We will be attempting to capitalize on this opportunity and other potential angles we’re working as we move forward in the next couple of weeks.

 

Stay tuned for more information…

 

 

Dawn Koepke

 

Join the fight to keep funding for adult education in California!

Go to www.ccaestate.org for more details. 

 

CCAE ● PO Box 978 ● Los Alamitos, CA 90720-0978
www.ccaestate.org ● membership@ccaestate.org ● 888-54-CCAE1 (888-542-2231)

West Contra Costa Board of Education Holds Public Hearing on Tier III Flexibility May 23

Supporters of adult education in West Contra Costa County need to come to the next Board of Education meeting on Wednesday, May 23 to make their voices heard at a public hearing on Tier III Flexibility.  The meeting will take place at LoVonya DeJean Middle School, 3400 Macdonald Ave., Richmond. The meeting begins at 6:30 pm; it’s best to arrive at about 6:00 pm in order to sign up to speak.

Tier III  is a funding category which includes adult education along with a variety of other programs which used to have separate funding which school districts were required to dedicate to those programs and no other purpose.  Tier III Flexibility was adopted as part of the State of California budget of 2009, as part of the response to the budget crisis which began that year.  Tier III Flexibility means districts can now divert these previously protected funds to any other purpose they choose until at least 2015.  It is not clear what will happen after that.  Tier III Flexibility has resulted in severe cuts to the funding for many adult schools, and the complete closing of some, including Oakland.  Currently the Los Angeles adult education system, which serves 300,000 students, is severely threatened.

West Contra Costa Board of Education members have made numerous promises this year that adult education in West County will be funded for the 2012-2013 school year at the same rate it was funded for the current year.  The 2012-13 budget projections do include monies for adult education.  However, the board has also notified the principal of adult education that she may be reassigned next year and not replaced.  The district is clearly positioning itself to make more cuts to adult education or to eliminate the program altogether in a “worst case scenario” situation in which, for example, the governor’s tax proposal and/or the Measure K parcel tax do not prevail at the ballot box in the upcoming elections.  

The public hearing is being held pursuant to a new California law (formerly AB 189) which requires that districts hold hearings prior to sweeping Tier III funds.  The purpose of this law was to give some small measure of protection to adult education programs by requiring that the district at least hold a separate public hearing before closing the programs and appropriating their funds.  This is the one chance the community will have to show  support for adult education and request that the board keep it alive before the board adopts its 2012-2013 budget.

Come to the meeting May 23rd and tell the board to keep adult education alive in West County!

You can view the agenda for the meeting at www.wccusd.net. You will find the Board of Education on the left hand side of the screen. Click on “agenda” to view the agenda.  The public hearing action item is on page 11; the action item number is F.3.  

Communities Organized to Support Adult School Endorses Measure K

At the Monday, April 23 meeting of Communities Organized to Support Adult School (COSAS), members unanimously voted to support Measure K, the parcel tax to support West County Schools.  Measure K will replace the existing parcel tax , which will sunset this year, with an increase of 3 cents per square foot.  For the average house in West County, the increase amounts to about $3 more a month.  Seniors 65 years of age and older can opt out of this tax.

The present parcel tax pays for counselors in the middle and high schools, all school athletics, all school librarians, and some class size reduction, among other things.  Should the parcel tax fail, counselors will be drastically reduced, class sizes will increase, and there will be no money for school librarians or athletics.

While parcel tax monies will not be used to support adult education, COSAS supports the parcel tax because we support public education, of which adult education is a part.  Through our work with West County families, including parents, grandparents, and older siblings  of children in the WCCUSD system, we are accutely aware of how important adequately funded public school  programs are for our community.

Here are some key ways to support the parcel tax:

Sign up to help with phone banking at the Measure K website: http://www.protectwestcountyschool.com/

Like the Measure K facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/ForTheChildrenOfWestCounty

Sign up for the Measure K facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/41500120185127

 

 

Save Adult Education on the Federal Level

FYI – Forwarded COABE Alert

Begin forwarded message:

From: <advocacy@coabe.org>

Date: April 19, 2012 7:01:54 AM PDT

To: coabe-region7@lists.literacytent.org

Subject: [COABE-Region7] Alert: Do Not Consolidate Adult Education Funding in WIA Reauthorization!

Reply-To: coabe-region7@lists.literacytent.org

 

Dear COABE Contact Network and COABE Members,

 

On March 29th, Members of the House Education and the Workforce Committee introduced The Workforce Investment Improvement Act of 2012 (HR 4297). As early as next week, the full Committee may meet to markup the bill as the next step in reauthorizing the Workforce Investment Act (WIA).

 

Created in 1998 through a bipartisan process, WIA—the legislation which provides for adult education programs—has not been updated since then. Now, House Republicans are moving their legislation forward to markup.

 

If this bill were to become law, it would allow states to consolidate adult education funding together with a newly-created fund that provides for a broad set of general workforce activities, including job seeking services, without requiring states to use the funding for adult education and literacy services. This could result in significantly less money for adult education.

 

The National Coalition for Literacy has also identified several additional concerns with the bill. You might share in some of these concerns as well: http://bit.ly/IoQugl

 

Action Request:

 

This is a targeted alert for advocates whose U.S. Representative serves on the House Education and the Workforce Committee (see list below).

 

Instructions:

1. If your U.S. Representative      is listed below, call his or her office (Find Phone number here: http://bit.ly/ProtectAdultEd).
2. Ask to speak to the      Representative’s Education Legislative Assistant.
3. Tell the Congressional      staffer, “I have several concerns regarding H.R. 4297, the Workforce      Investment Improvement Act of 2012. First and foremost, I do not support      giving states the option to consolidate adult education and family      literacy funding (Title II) which is allowed in this bill.”
4. Speak from your experience      on the need and demand for adult education and literacy services in your      community. Use any of the suggested talking points below.
5. Tell us how the staff      person responds by entering your feedback in the alert form: http://bit.ly/ProtectAdultEd
6. Follow up with an email to      the education legislative assistant you spoke with outlining your      concerns.

Suggested Talking Points:

• Adult education and      literacy programs serve a unique and diverse population of adults who need      to boost their basic education and literacy skills or learn English in      order to get or keep a job with a family sustaining wage, transition to      postsecondary education or training, be actively involved in their      children’s education, or to function well in society and civic life. These      targeted funds need to be maintained in order to ensure those most in need      of these programs can be served.
• The consolidation proposal      could drastically reduce the availability of adult education and English      language services  for a unique and      diverse population of low-skilled workers in states across the country      because it would give states the option to use adult education and      literacy funding for other activities, unrelated to the mission of Title      II of WIA.
• While I want to see adult      education and workforce training services aligned, I do not want to see      adult education services reduced or replaced.
• Nationally, the adult      education and literacy system serves just under 2 million adults out of      the 93 million in need of services. 30 million of these adults cannot read      well enough to complete a job application. The unemployment rate for the      undereducated is three times greater than those with a bachelor’s degree      or higher.
• Adult education and      literacy programs already struggle to meet the current demand and are      severely under-resourced. Fifty out of 51 states and territories had      waiting lists for local adult education programs in 2009-2010, according      to the most recent survey. The number of people on waiting lists doubled      between 2008 and 2009-2010. Making adult education and literacy funding an      option for consolidation could drastically reduce services ever further,      at a time when low-skilled adults need services the most.

Full Committee

(Not sure who your U.S. Representative is? Find your elected official here: http://bit.ly/ProtectAdultEd .)

 

Republicans:

John Kline (MN) (Chairman), Thomas E. Petri (WI), Buck McKeon (CA), Judy Biggert (IL), Todd Russell Platts (PA), Joe Wilson (SC), Virginia Foxx (NC), Bob Goodlatte (VA), Duncan Hunter (CA), David P. Roe (TN), Glenn Thompson (PA), Tim Walberg (MI), Scott DesJarlais (TN), Richard L. Hanna (NY), Todd Rokita (IN), Larry Bucshon (IN), Trey Gowdy (SC), Lou Barletta (PA), Kristi L. Noem (SD), Martha Roby (AL), Joseph J. Heck (NV), Dennis A. Ross (FL), Mike Kelly (PA)

Democrats:

George Miller (CA) (Senior Democratic Member), Dale E. Kildee (MI), Robert E. Andrews (NJ), Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (VA), Lynn C. Woolsey (CA), Rubén Hinojosa (TX), Carolyn McCarthy (NY), John F. Tierney (MA), Dennis J. Kucinich (OH), Rush D. Holt (NJ), Susan A. Davis (CA), Raúl M. Grijalva (AZ), Timothy H. Bishop (NY), David Loebsack (IA), Mazie K. Hirono (HI), Jason Altmire (PA), Marcia Fudge (OH)

 

Express your views on consolidation with your U.S. Representative’s office. Then see these Five Critical Issues With HR 4297: http://bit.ly/IoQugl . Call your House Member’s education staffer to discuss any of them that also concern you or offer to email them the list of issues.

 

Contact me at advocacy@coabe.org if you have questions and let us know what the staffer says when you make your call.

 

Thank you for joining COABE, NCL, and its Member Organizations in this campaign and for all you do on behalf of adult education students.

 

Sincerely…Jackie

 

Jackie Taylor

COABE President Elect2011-2013

Policy Chair

 

FYI Links:

• Link to Alert: http://bit.ly/ProtectAdultEd
• What Is Markup? http://www.senate.gov/reference/glossary_term/markup.htm
• Adult Education Funding      Levels and Enrollment http://www.clasp.org/admin/site/publications/files/adult-ed-funding-enrollment-February-2012.pdf
• H.R. 4297 Summary http://blog.ncladvocacy.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/FoxxBillRecommendationsFINAL.pdf      and Full Text http://blog.ncladvocacy.org/wpcontent/uploads/2012/04/Workforce_Investment_Improvement_Act_of_2012.pdf
• Five Critical Issues with      HR 4297 http://bit.ly/IoQugl
• House Education and the      Workforce Committee Members http://edworkforce.house.gov/Committee/SubcommitteesJurisdictions.htm

COABE MEMBERS GAIN THE ADVANTAGE!
Advocacy alerts and calls to action to keep funding in federal legislation. Awards, incentive grants, and scholarship opportunities. Mini grants to defray conference attendance and deep discounts are available on the COABE National conference in Norfolk, VA on April 10-13, 2012 ($75 off), discounts on the COABE Journal ($35 off), and leading publishers in ABE such as Pearson Longman, GED Academy, GED Testing Service, Steck Vaughn, Aztec Software, CTB McGraw Hill, Boston Reed, and Advanced Learning. RENEW YOUR MEMBERSHIP TODAY AT WWW.COABE.ORG

 

Ronna Magy

Professional Development Specialist

Author and Educator                               

Phone: 310.838.3210

ronnawrite@sbcglobal.net

 

 

 

Jack Bailey

Program Director

SBCC Continuing Education
300 N. Turnpike
Santa Barbara, CA 93111
(805) 683-8230

 

Thank You Letters to West Contra Costa Board of Education Member Antonio Medrano

At the March 21 meeting of the West Contra Costa Board of Education, supporters of adult education voiced their concerns that the principal of West Contra Costa Adult Education had received a reassignment letter.  Teachers and students were concerned not only that they would lose their principal, but that the principal of adult education position would be eliminated.

Board of Education Secretary Antonio Medrano was chairing the public comment portion of the meeting that evening, due to an illness of the board president. When public comment was concluded, Mr. Medrano asked district staff to clarify the situation regarding the reassignment of the principal of adult education.  Assistant Superintendant Wendell Greer clarified that the reassignment letter was in preparation for a ‘worst case” California budget, and went out with about 40 similar letters to district administrators whose positions might need to be cut in the event of  more severe cuts to K-12 education in California.  The district is required to do this in years when it may have to make cuts.  When more is known about how much money the district actually has, positions will be reinstated.

So adult education in West County might still lose its principal, but if there is enough money, the position will hopefully be reinstated.

Communities Organized to Support Adult School asked that thank you letters be sent to Mr. Medrano for bringing up the question and providing adult education students, teachers, and supporters with some clarity around this issue.  The letters also make a good case for why adult education is important in
West County (and California). Some of the letters follow:

On Thu, Mar 22, 2012 at 9:50 AM, Amy Aldrich  wrote: Mr. Medrano,Thank you for making clear the situation  with our principal. We are all disturbed at the loss of our leader.The school relies on her and removing the position does nothing good. I am an older adult exercise teacher working  at the Richmond Senior Center, teaching 5 classes a week. My students  are concerned about the future. Older adults would suffer deeply  without exercise classes. What we do is preventative, thus maintaining  health and longevity in the senior community. Without this service the   entire town and it’s health services would suffer. We would then have  very expensive misery. Let’s don’t let that happen here in Richmond. Thank you again for your efforts on our  behalf. It is appreciated. Sincerely, Amy Aldrich

Mr. Medrano:

> I was not able to get to the board meeting last night, but as a

> fee-based photography teacher at Serra Adult Education campus, I

> received a report from one of those who spoke in support of keeping

> the Adult Education principal’s position in the face of a letter of

> reassignment. The letter implied the position would be removed and

> adult education in the district subsumed to the Alternative and

> Continuing Education program, which primarily serves teenagers.

>

> She indicated you had taken the initiative to ask the staff for

> clarification, even though the board was not required to do more than

> listen. Thanks to your query, we now understand that the letter was

> intended only to prepare for a “worst-case scenario.” I wanted to

> extend my appreciation for your leadership in requesting an

> explanation for the letter. Obviously it doesn’t eradicate the fear

> that this vital role of the district will be shut down due to budget

> pressures, but apparently downgrading the role of the Adult Ed program isn’t a done deal.

>

> As a relatively new Adult Ed teacher, I saw a statement on posters on

> the Serra campus: “Every successful society educates its children

> early and its adults continuously.” It was written by a faculty member

> there. I assumed was a mantra of the Adult Education profession

> nationwide; it should be, because it expresses the heart of the matter.

>

> I understand the board sees its first responsibility to K-12 students,

> based on the state model that they must be prepared to be effective

> citizens with productive careers. But in today’s volatile economy, that model is obsolete.

> industries and careers we prepared for and succeeded in can disappear

> (I’m a veteran major daily news writer, now picking up occasional

> checks for free-lance articles). This puts adults, financially

> responsible for established homes and families, in the same position

> as young people-preparing for new careers-with far less flexibility to

> adjust to economic realities. It’s more true now than ever: Adults

> must be educated continually. And school district adult education

> programs are a mainstay in our society for them to adjust and remain

> employable. No other institutions are as accessible and cost-effective.

>

> As for recreational classes such as photography and yoga, it’s clear

> and right that they must pay for themselves and may even generate

> income for the district. They, too, help our society succeed because

> adults who keep themselves active and intellectually challenged

> sustain their health and cognitive abilities, remaining productive,

> self-sufficient citizens rather than economic burdens. If they’re motivated, we can’t shut doors on them.

> Commercial programs are completely out of reach for many of them.

>

> None of this can happen if Adult Ed loses its executive leadership to

> a director who already is working full-time with alternative and

> continuing education. It’s hard to imagine Adult Education will get

> the attention it needs without a dedicated manager. Please do all you

> can to buck the state-wide trend of school districts to make adult

> education programs “small enough to drown in the bathtub,” to

> paraphrase an anti-tax leader whose efforts have a lot to do with our fiscal crisis.

>

> Sincerely,

>

> Dale Mead,

> Digital Photography teacher

> El Cerrito

>

Comments To West Contra Costa Board of Education in Support of Adult School Principal

Concerned that the principal of adult education for West Contra Costa Adult Education had received a reassignment letter, supporters of adult education spoke at the West Contra Costa Board of Education meeting on March 21.  Some of their comments follow:

Comments by Janet Johnson, ESL Teacher, West Contra Costa Adult Education:

School Board members, Dr. Harter, administrators: Good evening. My name is Janet Johnson. I’m a 30-year resident of Richmond, and I teach beginning ESL in the adult school. I’m here to address the elimination of the adult school principal position.

This afternoon I received an email from Martin Herzfeld, a solar energy contractor who teaches the adult school’s solar basic classes. Since he can’t be here tonight, he asked that I deliver his message.

Here are the main points of his email:

“Not only oil companies in the area may wish to bring on employees, but also specifically solar renewable energy companies. The solar trades courses have been growing in particular.

“Led by our principal, West Contra Costa Adult Education has been very successful. Class fees are relatively low and provide students an opportunity to transcend their condition and enter a renewable energy career. What is working about adult education is the flexibility to train the general public in addition to those with highly technical skills. Based on the success of the course in solar essentials, other classes may be added.”

Enrollment in Mr. Herzfeld’s class has increased threefold since its inception, reflecting the rapid growth of the solar energy industry even during these tough economic times. The district itself is in the forefront of solar adoption: In  2009, it was one of three local school districts that received half-million-dollar DOE technical assistance grants to develop a Solar Master Plan for schools that will be scaled statewide and nationally. Mr. Herzfeld is concerned that without a full-time administrator, our adult school will not be able to coordinate with local employers to tailor its curriculum to employers’ needs.

The adult school has suffered many cuts, yet it continues to provide a highly cost-effective means for our district’s adults to better themselves and help their children. It serves between 8- and 10,000 students every year. To continue this important work, it requires a full-time principal.

Comments by Kristen Pursley, ESL Teacher, West Contra Costa Adult Education:

My name is Kristen Pursley. I work for West Contra Costa Adult Education, and I am a member of Communities Organized to Support Adult School, or COSAS.  The adult education community in West County is shocked at the news that our principal of adult education, who has only been with us eight months, has been reassigned and that her position is being eliminated.  Some of us found this out only because we attended a professional conference where people from other adult schools knew about the change.

We are already coping with the loss of two vice principals, but the elimination of the principal of adult education position is particularly significant because it is the last administrative position devoted entirely to adult education. With the loss of our principal, we come under the director of adult and alternative education. The current director is very talented and hard working, but she has many other responsibilities. Without an administrator dedicated to our programs, we begin to lose our separate identity as an adult school.

Within the short time our current principal has been with us, she has found ways to significantly increase both our  CalWORKS and federal Carl Perkins funding.  CalWORKS has even agreed to pay for a teacher to teach an additional adult school class for CalWORKS students.  These are not just funds coming to the adult school; these are resources being brought in to an underserved community that will be spent on services for that community.  Adult education needs a leader who can bring these kinds of resources to adults.

We have to ask why this is happening now.  Our funding has been cut by 50%, but the Executive Summary of the Interim Budget Report, which the board will probably certify later in this meeting, states, on page 6, that the multi-year projection assumes that adult education is funded at our present 2011-12 level through 2014.  If our funding is to stay essentially the same, why are we losing a position that might well pay for itself with increased revenue to the adult school?  If the considerable talents of our current principal are needed elsewhere, we can understand that, but why is she not to be replaced?

 

LAUSD Votes to Eliminate Adult Education

On Tuesday, March 13, the Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education voted to eliminate adult education, leaving 300,000 adults without educational services.  Supporters of adult education in Los Angeles, particularly the student organization, vowed to keep fighting and to oust school board members who failed to support them.  You can see videos of responses to the board’s decision by adult education supporters at:

http://saveadulted.wordpress.com/

One adult education supporter, Matthew Kogan, points out in one of these videos that the school where he teaches, which will now be closed, was actually opened during the Great Depression of the 1930s, and that adult education grew during the Depression. Mr. Kogan explains that the board plans to cut adult education by about 75%, leaving only credit recovery programs for high school students.

Diane Ravitch, in her article “School ‘Reform’: A Failing Grade” in the New York Review of Books, had this to say about credit recovery programs:

Now the schools offer “credit recovery,” a dubious scheme that enables students to make up a failed year with a week or so of ersatz classes. The goal of these shabby manipulations is to hit the phony targets and make the leadership look good, even as they ignore the daily tribulations of students and teachers.

You can read the rest of Ms. Ravitch’s article here: http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2011/sep/29/school-reform-failing-grade/?pagination=false

As depressing as the news about LAUSD is, it is heartening to see the determined response of the adult school students, so watch the videos. The president of the student’s association says, “This is not the end; it’s the beginning.”

State Superintendant of Education Tom Torlakson’s Letter in Support of Adult Education

California State Superintendant of Education Tom Torlakson wrote a letter to superintendants of schools and charter school administrators urging them not to sweep adult education funds.  You can read the letter here:

http://www.cde.ca.gov/nr/el/le/yr12ltr0210c.asp

Los Angeles Unified School District Defers Cuts to Adult Education

http://www.dailybreeze.com/news/ci_19964178

Save Adult Education in Los Angeles

The Daily News article below contains several important arguments for maintaining adult education throughout California.

From: ccae-bay-bounces@lists.literacytent.org [mailto:ccae-bay-bounces@lists.literacytent.org] On Behalf Of membership@ccaestate.org
Sent: Tuesday, February 14, 2012 2:23 PM
Subject: [CCAE-Bay] CCAE Members, Keep Adult Education Alive in California
Importance: High

Dear CCAE Members,

Let’s do our part to keep adult education alive in California!

The link here

http://www.dailynews.com/education/ci_19946921#.Tzk_NayJatU.email

and the two attached documents are part of the support given DACE in ongoing campaign to ‘Save Adult Ed’ in LAUSD. Feel free to share and pass them along.

Membership benefits include discounted registration on CCAE sponsored annual and state wide conferences, professional
development and networking opportunities, effective federal advocacy, annual award opportunities, and access to low cost healthcare benefits.

CCAE ● PO Box 978 ● Los Alamitos, CA 90720-0978
www.ccaestate.org ● membership@ccaestate.org ● 888-54-CCAE1 (888-542-2231)