Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/274063
FEATURE A S I A H M A R T I N E Z S T U D E N T I N S A M B A R K ' S A D U L T E D U C A T I O N C L A S S , Paramount I started ditching school and dropped out of high school. I think adult school has been a really good learn- ing experience. My teacher, Mr. Bark, is a phenomenal teacher who has helped me a lot, and I am grateful for that. Without him, I wouldn't have the confidence to take the GED class. A D I L E N E AV I L E S S T U D E N T I N C O R I V I L L A L O B O S - M O R R O W ' S P A R E N T I N G C L A S S E S , Los Angeles I have learned how to interact with kids, communicate with them and play with them in an age-appropriate way. Most importantly, I have learned how to communicate and talk to them in an appropriate manner instead of screaming and being mad. I look for ingredients on food I buy to make sure it's healthy. It was a wake-up call to learn about these changes. WA D E H E N D E R S O N S T U D E N T I N V A L Y N C I A J O H N S O N ' S C A R E E R / C O M P U T E R L I T E R A C Y C L A S S , Fairfield I'm 28 years old and about to enroll in an algebra course so I can be an electrician. Adult education will en- able me to further my career and my life. I'm raising a 6-year-old boy, and it's very necessary for people to have a place where they can go to further their education. are afraid of working with community colleges, but I think compet- ing with community colleges is scarier than working together. And working collaboratively with them will secure us more support from state lawmakers." Ernest Kettenring, UTLA director for adult education and a member of CTA's Adult Education Subcommittee, hopes collab- oration will ensure continued survival, noting that Los Angeles has one-third of the adult education programs it once did, and is still considered to be a "survivor" compared to other districts. "There have been structural deficiencies in adult education pro- grams for a number of years, and those need to be addressed. One of the deficiencies is a lack of coordination with the community col- lege system and duplication of services. Collaboration could provide a pathway that will transition adult education students into the com- munity college system. That was missing before." Lynette Nyaggah, Community College Association president, is pleased with AB 86, because community colleges did not want to "poach" adult education programs from K-12 districts in the first place, even if the governor tried to give community colleges control. While people are afraid their "territory" may be taken away from them, "it's not a territorial issue," Nyaggah says. "The issue is how to make the very best adult education we can in the state so our students get the education they need. There's no one-size-fits-all. We need to put teachers in the room and have them talk about what size fits their population." She encourages those involved to apply for the grant money to collaborate between community college and K-12 communities. Not applying will hurt local programs in the long run because they won't be funded, she says. CTA has a role in the transition As part of the implementation process, a series of town hall meetings with the adult ed consortia were scheduled around the state, with stakeholders providing testimony and comment. Nyaggah attended a few with other CCA members. She is concerned there are no faculty, either K-12 or community college, on any of the deci- sion-making bodies listed on the AB 86 website, just administrators. "The Department of Education and the Chancellor's Office need to hear CTA members say that faculty must be involved, since we are the ones who will live with these decisions in our classrooms." Hank Mollet, chair of CTA's Adult, Alternative, Career and Tech- nical Education Committee (which oversees the Adult Education Subcommittee), is concerned that AB 86 lacks "teeth" to make the community colleges work with school districts, so CTA members must do it themselves. "If we don't work together, change will be done to us, not with us. Our best opportunity is having CTA members take the lead in Adult ed students share successes developing a plan through their association. We need to keep the conversations going, tapping into service centers and setting up meetings. A lot of resources can be brought together to make adult education and career education in our state more powerful. Now is the time to make it happen." 12 M A R C H 2 0 1 4 Educator 03 Mar 2014 v2.0 int.indd 12 3/6/14 10:52 AM