Bill would increase funding for adult education by $250 million

I am looking for funding for our senior adult Lifelong Learning Health and Fitness Class that had been offered in Twain Harte through Columbia College. They are asking us to find a way to hold our class through Community Education and fill out an application. They are not willing to keep funding our teachers who are credentialed. This class has been ongoing for 20 years. Twain Harte is a small town 35 minutes from Columbia College near Sonora, CA. Our class is made up of 60 to 85 year olds. Is there funding available for us? I understood that Junior Colleges had money set aside for older adult education. Do you have any knowledge of this?

Thank you for bringing Adult ed to the table! I love hearing about AB1846! Adult ed can only enhance peoples lives – and can give a second chance to so many different people in so many different situations in their lives! Free (or reasonable) education needs to be available to beyond K-12! High school diploma classes allow people to fulfill their goals and dreams. ESL classes allow folks to start over and succeed. Many other programs —- life long learning ensures a better community for all!

In response to Lacie M.’s comment, though I’d certainly hire the Master Mechanic with 15 years experience to work on my car, that doesn’t necessarily mean that individual has the skills required to teach others to do the job. As far as the freshly minted BA adult-ed credentialed teacher goes, his or her credential will only allow for teaching in fields in which they have knowledge of the curriculum and if this isn’t the case, the responsibility lies with the administrator who hired them or with loopholes in the credentialing process.

Teaching is a profession in its own right, not just something those in other professions do in their spare time or when the job market is soft. Indeed, if anything teachers deserve more training and this needs to be more innovative and directly relevant than it’s been in the past. Clearly, greater attention should be given to teacher training, and if we want to standardize teacher requirements across the adult ed and community college systems for the students’ benefit, it would probably be best for ALL these teachers to be credentialed.

As far as the current adult ed credentialing process goes, it is neither that arduous nor that costly. An aspiring instructor can begin teaching very soon after the process begins, ample time is given for completing the required courses, and extensions are commonplace. The fees are moderate and on a class by class basis which can essentially spread the cost out over years. Also, scholarships are in general available for low-income students.

It would be very, very shortsighted to reduce the standards required to teach. The field needs to become more professionalized and these professionals better paid. A policy that allows folks, no matter how informally skilled they might be, to just walk in off the streets and stand in front of a classroom would be a serious step in the wrong direction.

AB 86 required agencies serving adult learners to “come together” to avoid duplication of effort and align and consolidate services. This occurred after devastating funding cuts that left deserving adult learners out in the cold (relying more and more on tax-payer supported benefits) without options for learning English or gaining necessary skills for work. Now the consortia is meant to provide these consolidated services, yet the issues mentioned in Ms. Frey’s story are daunting. Teacher qualifications for adult education vary widely throughout the country. Getting a CA Adult Education teaching credential is arduous and expensive. This keeps skilled teachers OUT of the classroom — especially those that might teach in career/technical education. Shouldn’t a recognized certificate or significant work experience in the field count as qualifications to teach adults? I’d rather hire a Master Mechanic to teach automotive technology who has fixed cars for 15 years over a freshly minted BA adult-ed credentialed teacher. The state needs to re-examine teacher requirements as it relates to teaching adults over the age of 18. Adult Education Matters! We need to support it with needed funds AND qualified teachers.

1. I agree that the additional funding is needed. We are currently receiving only a portion of what we received before the tier funding. For our district it is about 50% less than what we had before the recession. That means that we have cut the class time for all of our ESL and HSD classes. We have also discontinued our summer classes in ESL and HSD.
2. The additional funding is also needed because if the costs go up and the money stays the same, then services are lost. For example, our adult teachers have not had pay raises since the recession. We have not been able to update materials for 8 years, and it goes on.
3. We have the credentials that are appropriate for our students. In fact our credentials include classes in how to teach and work with adult students. A master’s degree in something like English does not include any classes in how to teach.
4. As to the consortium – It will take at least 2 or 3 years to get all of them working. Also, out of the monies that are being given to the Adult Schools, some of that money is staying with the consortium to handle all the adult schools and colleges working together.
5. Another point is that the AEBG (Adult Education Block Grant) has come with its own set of reporting requirements which will require either more staff time or additional staff to complete. I was recently told that the money is considered an “allocation,” but I have never seen an allocation with so many strings. It has requirements that are a combination of the WIOA and Perkins grants requirements. And not every adult school receives WIOA and/or Perkins money.
6. Patty Lopez, thank you for putting forward this legislation – it is vital funding to support the students of our state.

Thank you for your coverage of this important topic. The adult schools are doing heroic work with threadbare funding. We have waiting lists of students that we cannot serve. Our facilities have been neglected since the economic crisis, and the current funding leave no room for improving them. The new model of consortium funding require extensive coordination and more data collection (beyond the extensive data on learning gains adult education agencies have been providing for many years), and curriculum development. These are important functions but their costs take away from funding for instruction. The unresolved issues that Debra Jones highlights need to be resolved at the state level, not by adult education providers. The wait and see attitude is jeopardizing the schools that remain.