Upload
gianna-searer
View
214
Download
0
Tags:
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
CRUSHING
CALIFORNIA’SADULT EDUCATION
“Visible” Education in CA• UC System• CSU System• Community Colleges (credit)• pre/K-12 ― CA Dept. of Education• Private and charter schools
Adult Education = Invisible
Invisible→Easily “Disappeared”
• Low public awareness• Low status• Low priority assigned• Low funding per student
Adult Education Is Publicly Subsidized under Dual Systems
Noncredit Programs• Agency: CA
Community Colleges
• Local Boards of Trustees
• Free; available at some colleges but not all
Adult School Programs• Agency: CA Department of
Education• Local School Boards • Charge small fee for
registration• Many school districts are
closing these programs
Noncredit Throughout CA
• 23 Community
College Districts have
significant noncredit
headcount (# or %):
San Francisco
North Orange
San Diego
Rancho Santiago
Santa Barbara
Glendale
Allan Hancock
Mt. San Antonio
South Orange
Copper Mountain
Rio Hondo
Pasadena
Sonoma
Merced
Gavilan
Monterey
Cerritos
West Valley
Palomar
Mt. San Jacinto
Los Angeles
Southwestern
Coast
Little or No Noncredit
Significant Noncredit Program
But Only 1/3 of 72 Community College DistrictsHave Significant Noncredit Programs
Adult School Availability
• CA Dept of Ed has about 333 adult schools /about 950 K12 districts
• In the past two years, more than 32 schools have been CLOSED
• At least 44 have lost OVER HALF their funding
Same Subjects Taught in Both Systems
• ESL • Career Techical• Basic Skills/HS/GED• Citizenship
• Older Adults• Parenting• Disabled• Health & Safety• Home Ec/ Consumer Ed
Diverse Students Served
• Alternative access point to credit• Higher % people of color than CA• Higher % immigrants than CA• Lower income• At-risk students such as high school dropouts,
single parents, referrals from justice system
Some agricultural and conservative counties have few adult education opportunities, e.g.:
• Kern County• San Joaquin County• Riverside County• Sacramento County
Need Also Urgent in Cities
Los Angeles County has 1.7 MILLION poor
Alameda County has 200,000 poor
Even “wealthy” SF has 100,000 people below federal poverty level!
Wrong Direction, Folks…
Year Adult Ed Enrollment
State Population
ParticipationRate
1950 1,000,000 10,000,000 1 in 10
2008 2,000,000 36,000,000 1 in 18
2012 1,000,000 37,000,000 1 in 37
Budget Cuts→ Unacceptable Choices
• Education for adults OR education for children?
• How shall we ration education?
Real Choices
• Do you want to educate the families in your community OR not educate them?
• Provide intellectual opportunity for all persons OR accept ignorance?
Rationing intellectual stimulation, access to knowledge and skills
Who shall receive basic educational opportunities that support human life and
dignity? Who shall be denied?
Believe the Myths of Falling Demand?
• “There is less need, less demand for adult education now”
• “The need is for ages 18-24, university education”
• “After 9/11/01, ICE stopped the flow”• “Immigration is at net zero”• “Mexicans have returned to Mexico”
These are the facts
• The very competitive University of CA serves 200,000 lucky students―Adult Ed served 2,000,000 students until it was cut 50%
• Adult ed is open access, education for all
• Credit students have great need for basic skills and many, discouraged by failure, drop out
Incentive to Replace with Credit
Credit
Noncredit CDCP
Regular Noncredit
$4,564.83
$3,232.07
$2,744.96
Funding Rate Per FTE Student
California Should Be Expanding, Not Defunding, Adult Education
• At least 80-90% of NEED is unmet, per CDE estimates and Census data.
• At least ten million Californians need adult education.
• One million now served; that number is falling rapidly.
• For every student now enrolled, nine others in the community could benefit by enrolling.
Demand is Suppressed• With slashed budgets, adult ed programs are not
advertising and recruiting in the normal way
• Schools are not funded for increasing the number of students
• Summers, sites, schedule choices are reduced, making classes less convenient
1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 20240%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
12%
14%
16%
Noncredit StudentsA Decreasing Percent of
All Community College Students
Actual
Projected
Unemployment rate nearly 11%
NEED SHOULD BE OBVIOUS ─CA’s Need for Job Training
CA’s Need for Immigrant Education
1 in 5 speaks English “less than very well”1 in 7 residents is a non-citizen
CA’s Need for Basic Education
Only about 1/2 of Latino and African American students graduate high school
1 in 5 adults lacks a high school diploma
Other Adult Education Needs
Older Adults
Parenting
Disabled
Home Ec/Nutrition
Health and Safety
Budget Cuts →Political Opportunism
• Opponents of public education were waiting to
pounce
• A global movement by multinational
corporations to steer education towards
corporate goals
Budget Cuts →Political Opportunism
• Corporate influence on education is now pervasive, strategic, well-funded, global
• A focus on ages 18-24, no lifelong learning • “Produce” BAs in an assembly-line model of
education• “High productivity”=state wants to pay less
per graduate• No “excess” learning beyond work needs
Adult Ed Mirrors Student Needs
• Classic noncredit model historically resilient
• Features effectiveness, efficiency and equity
• Open-ended, human, non-linear, iterative, organic
• With full funding, could be used to address social,
economic and educational problems
• Retaining community control is essential
Pushing back is critical!• Pushing back has made many changes in
Student Success Task Force Plan implementation
• Pushing back will be effective in getting Los Angeles (LACCD) to fund at least SOME adult schools
• Push back in your community!• Voice your support and inform others about
adult education/noncredit!