Another Letter from a Parent re Parent Education

Dear Committee Members,

This letter concerns SB173 and the Parent Education Program funding.  I am
a mother of a nearly four year old daughter who has attended the South Bay
Adult School (SBAS) program since she was one year old.  We live in
Redondo Beach, California, and her classrooms were located in both Hermosa
Beach and Manhattan Beach.  We just finished the year with Mrs. Carmel
Madonna at the Pacific School in Manhattan Beach, which was wonderful in every
way.

We have enjoyed and benefited greatly from the Parent Education Program !
I have met amazing people, and my daughter has made many new friends, many of
whom will be life-time friends for us both.  These friendships are
invaluable to us !  The connection we have made stems greatly from my days
working in the classroom with the parents, teachers and children.  A real
bond forms in a co-ed situation like this one.  I am grateful for the
opportunity to be a part of the class.

Not only is my daughter learning life lessons, I am also learning new ways to
become a more effective mother.  The weekly lessons, tips, conversations,
and night meetings are wonderful and intimate.  The bonus of this all is
the low price we pay due to the generous funding from the State of California.
Other preschools in this area can be very expensive.  I believe I am
getting a great education for my daughter, equal to the other more expensive
preschools.  I understand from other parents that the SBAS is in demand in
this area.

I wrote this email as a caring attempt to keep the funding solid for the Parent
Education Program in the State of California.  Education is so very
important to the well-being of children and their futures as well as for
parents to better raise their children to become outstanding members of
society.  The low cost of the Parent Education Program helps families be
able to better provide for their children in every way.

Thank you for your consideration,

Margaret Thomas

Another Letter from a Parent Education Student

Assembly Higher Education Committee

1021 N Street, Room 173

Sacramento, CA 95814

RE: Amend SB173

Dear Committee Members:

I am writing to plead for you to amend SB173 so that funding to Parent Education Programs is not eliminated. I have been a Parent Ed student at the South Bay Adult School in Los Angeles County since the fall of 2010, and wish to continue until my youngest attends kindergarten in four years.

I cannot overstate what a difference this program has made in my life, and the life of my family. I am a stay-at-home mom, and, as such, feel that my “job” is to raise my children so that they are kind, productive, well-adjusted and happy members of society. SBAS Parent Ed has (and is) giving me the tools to do just that. We learn through discussions on parenting topics that range from everything to good nutrition and health to discipline to television watching. But what has taught me the most, and what is special about a program like this, is what I’ve learned by being in the classroom. The opportunity to observe the activities and how the teachers interact with the children is invaluable. Just today a fellow parent and I were talking about how our current teacher, Felice Greene, has a way with the children where she can command the attention of 20 three and four year olds (something I have trouble doing with my one) with a calm, nurturing voice and manner and how we would like to emulate that in our own homes. Yes, there are a couple of other cooperative preschools in the area, but none where the parents are as much the focus of learning as the children.

Because my family is on a limited income, I absolutely could not afford to attend the SBAS without the subsidies it receives, and I would probably be on my own in raising my children. Please do not allow this funding to disappear.

Sincerely,

Jessie Kano

A Fiscally Sound Choice: Keeping Older Adult and Parent Education Programs within the Core of Adult Education

The California Legislative Analyst’s Office and the State Strategic Plan for Adult Education have both recommended “narrowing the mission” of adult education to eliminate state funding for Parent Education programs and programs for Older Adults. SB 173, if passed as written, would end state funding for Parent Education and Older Adult classes in both adult schools and community colleges by law.  The rationale is economic; policy makers argue that the state must concentrate its resources on workforce preparation.  However, the elimination of Older Adult and Parent Education programs is a false economy. These programs are cost effective and save the state money.  Maintaining these programs is sound fiscal policy, for the following reasons

1. Both Older Adult and Parent Education programs offer services that can save lives.  Parent Education programs offer Gang Prevention classes  that can change the course of a child’s life and Anger Management classes that can keep families together.  Older Adult programs offer a vital social network for seniors which protects their health.  Classes for seniors in how to avoid falls prevents one of the most common causes of elders having to enter costly institutional living situations and losing their independence.  Older adult and Parent Education classes are not frills.

2.   Cutting education programs for seniors will actually increase costs to the state.  A 2002  medical study concluded that seniors who participated in physically, mentally and socially stimulating programs such as adult education programs offer contracted dementia at an 18% lower rate than seniors who did not participate in such programs (American Journal of Epidemiology, vol. 155, no.12, June 15, 2002). Recent studies in England, Wales and Denmark bear out this conclusion. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/17/health/study-finds-dip-in-dementia-rates.html?_r=0

Investing in low cost adult education classes that have been proven to reduce dementia rates will produce substantial savings for the state, especially  as the number of Californians over the age of 65 grows.

3.  Older Adult programs support seniors in volunteer efforts that provide significant value to their communities. In West Contra Costa County, two of the senior centers surveyed their students about how many hours they volunteer for the schools. With only about half of the students responding, the students reported volunteering about 6,463 hours to programs that included the Read Aloud and Writer Coach Connection programs in the K-12 schools. The U.S. Department of Labor values volunteer hours at about $11.88 per hour. That means seniors at just these two senior centers volunteered $76,780 worth of labor. Because hundreds of adult school and community college programs for active seniors around California produce similar results, the state stands to lose millions of dollars in volunteer contributions by cancelling funding for these programs. The loss in volunteer contributions might well exceed the $22 million the state will supposedly save by cancelling funding for Older Adult  programs.          

4. Parent Education programs  produce significant savings to the state as well.  A study by the Zero to Three Policy Center determined that  effective early childhood programs, of which parent education is a key component, produced savings of $3.78 to $17.07 for every dollar spent. Savings came in the form of outcomes such as better school retention, improved earnings, and crime reduction (Lurie-Hurvitz, E. (2009) Early Experiences Matter: Making the case for a comprehensive infant and toddler policy agenda. Zero to Three Policy Center).

5. Parent Education programs are a promising strategy for breaking the cycle of intergenerational poverty. Recent advances in neuroscience, molecular biology and behavioral science indicate that helping parents develop skills that make them better parents and better workers is an effective way to support low-income children and help them escape from poverty. (Comment by              Jack  P. Shonkoff of Harvard University on the forum “Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity” http://www.spotlightonpoverty.org/ExclusiveCommentary.aspx?id=7a0f1142-f33b-40b8-82eb-73306f86fb74

6. It is more expensive to create a new program than to revise or expand an existing one.  Existing adult school programs for seniors and parents are low cost and work well for their students.  The state needs to provide services for older adults, parents and young children. It makes good financial sense to build on existing programs that work, rather than tearing down needed programs only to rebuild them elsewhere.

 

SB 173 — Contact the Higher Education Committee

The California Assembly Higher Education Committee will conduct a hearing on SB 173 on Tuesday, August 6^th.  If SB 173 passes as written, it will eliminate funding for Older Adult and Parent Education programs. Members of Communities Organized to Support Adult School (COSAS) and other adult education advocates are asking that the bill be amended to maintain state funding for these programs.  It would be best to get letters and emails to the committee by Friday of this week, so that they can be incorporated into the analysis of the bill.  It is especially important for Older Adult and Parent Education students to contact the committee to explain why the programs are important to them, but teachers and community members should also weigh in.

Here are some contacts for the committee:

This first one comes from Karen Arthur of Alliance 4 California Adult Schools:

Hillary Blackerby (Senior Field Rep. for Das Williams).  She said to send info to her email and she’ll forward it to Tatum, Assemblyman William’s staff person in Sacramento who is in charge of providing him with information on education, particularly K-12.

Her email address is:  hillary.blackerby@asm.ca.gov

Das Williams is the chair of the committee.

We can write to the Committee as a whole through Karen Teel at:

karen.teel@asm.ca.gov

JUST REMEMBER  TO PUT SB173 IN THE SUBJECT HEADER (that is “SB173 – AMEND!”) as well as in the text of the email proper.

Letters are, of course, the most effective. Here’s the address:

Assembly Higher Education Committee

1021 N Street, Room 173

Sacramento, CA 95814

Letter from A Parent Education Student

Dear Committee Chair Das Williams,

I have been a student in the adult school program at South Bay Adult School for three years so far. I have taken the parent education classes and have grown tremendously as a result of this experience.  I am better able to manage my days with my young children to be educational and fun. I am better at recognizing activities that help their development from those that just fill time. I have also learned better ways to correct negative behaviors instead of just punishing them, and I have seen a significant improvement since using these methods. I feel better prepared about the skills my kids and I will need to be successful in the future. The skills I have learned in these classes have improved my relationship with my toddlers and provided a rich network of parent students who help to reinforce these skills. I would not have been able to afford these life-changing opportunities without the state funding that the South Bay Adult School receives.

For these reasons, I am requesting that the California Assembly Higher Education Committee amend the SB 173 to include funding for Older Adult and Parent Education programs like the South Bay Adult School.

Thank you in advance for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

Ava Cato-Werhane