Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/274063
Adult ed teachers share concerns for the future The 2013-14 budget allocates $25 million for "plan- ning and implementation" grants that community colleges can apply for to begin collaborating with their local K-12 districts on adult ed. The governor announced plans to spend $500 million on adult education in 2015-16, with existing programs first in line to receive funding. SB 173, which enacts the governor's compromise plan, funds adult education elementary and secondary basic academic skills, English as a Second Language (ESL), citi- zenship classes, short-term vocational programs with high employment potential, and programs for disabled adults. Through omission, parenting education programs and programs for older adults won't be funded. S A M B A R K G E N E R A L E D U C A T I O N M A T H T E A C H E R , Teachers Association of Paramount My students are ages 18 to 62. They come because they want to learn. Adult education is a second chance. I teach people who are immigrants, or who dropped out years ago or got into trouble with the law. Seeing them graduate from high school is very rewarding. America is the land of opportunity, and society will benefit from educating its adults. I do worry about K-12 adult schools combining with community colleges. They are two different entities. My classes are smaller, and students say they feel comfortable here because it is family-oriented. Community colleges are larger and more competitive with bigger classes. I worry these changes might pit one against the other. C O R I V I L L A L O B O S - M O R R OW P A R E N T I N G E D U C A T I O N T E A C H E R , United Teachers Los Angeles I teach various parenting classes to adults. Topics focus on child abuse prevention, discipline, developmental stages, stress management, nutrition and cognitive development. The most important lesson is the importance of parents' involvement in the home, school and community to increase their child's chances of academic success. Parents are taught that both teacher and parent must work to- gether as a team. Eliminating parent education from the adult division will undermine this essential role parents must play for the success of their children. We will likely see an even- tual increase in juvenile delinquency, child abuse and the dropout rate of high school students. This program was designed to prevent these things from happening in the first place. Most parent education teachers have already been let go. It is so disheart- ening that this is happening in California. VA LY N C I A J O H N S O N C A R E E R / C O M P U T E R L I T E R A C Y T E A C H E R , Fairfield-Suisun Unified Teachers Association Adult school is a place where stu- dents can gain confidence. It's a second chance for adults and maybe a first chance for so many of them. It's a place where they can feel em- powered. I have students who looked for work for long periods of time, and then they came back and said "Thank you" when they found a job. One of my former students emailed me and said, "I wouldn't have gotten my diploma without you." I help them with inter- view skills and help them go online and look up labor market information. I help them understand they may have job skills that are transferable from one job to another. I help them build profiles on employment websites. The need is so great, but we have downsized so much. When I first came here, I worked four hours a day every day, but now it's three hours a day two days a week. I'm hanging on, like some of my students. "I'm very concerned about these omissions," says Matthew Kogan, chair of CTA's Subcommittee on Adult Education. "I don't know any role in society that is more important than parenting. Courts refer parents to these classes. And programs for older adults cost such a small amount of money. They provide physical and mental stimulation and an opportunity to socialize for seniors who have paid taxes their entire lifetime. It seems mean-spirited to ignore them." Can K-12 schools and community colleges work together? "I think some of the direction of AB 86 is very good, and I like the idea of secure funding in the future," says Kogan, United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA), who teaches ESL at Evans Adult School. "Some of our colleagues www.cta.org 11 M A R C H 2 0 1 4 Educator 03 Mar 2014 v2.0 int.indd 11 3/6/14 10:52 AM