Legislative support elusive for adult ed funding plan

California's Legislative Analyst'south Office says the land's embattled adult teaching organisation needs a dedicated and permanent funding stream that can't be appropriated for other schoolhouse programs when the land budget goes south.

Restructuring California'southward Adult Education Organization calls for the state Legislature to restore adult education equally a categorical programme. Adult Ed advocates lauded the proposal, even though it relies on funding that is speculative and requires a commitment from legislators and Gov. Jerry Brown that they take and then far not shown.

Adult schools are an important strand in the state's safety internet, offer customs-based classes to some of the land'southward neediest adults, ranging from the unemployed, the disabled and the elderly to ex-offenders reentering order, immigrants trying to learn English and become citizens, and high schoolhouse dropouts seeking to earn their GEDs.

Until the 2008-09 academic year, adult education was funded through one of the dozens of categorical programs that could be used only for their stated purpose. But as office of the February 2009 country budget plan, legislators canonical what'due south known as "categorical flex," giving school districts the authority to use funds from 40 categorical programs, including adult teaching, for any educational purpose.

Chris Nelson, Country President of the California Council for Adult Education. Photo courtesy CCAE. (Click to overstate)

The LAO study says that move signaled "adult schools' lower priority within the K-12 organization." Since then, local schoolhouse boards haveast funneled asouth much equally lxx percent of statewide adult ed funds to support K-12 programs, co-ordinate to Chris Nelson, president of the California Council for Adult Education.

At least 35 programs have close down equally a result, and many of the 300 remaining programs are operating on shoestring budgets. Altogether, the LAO estimates that in 2011-12, the land and federal governments spent about $400 million on district-run adult schools, down from $854 meg before flex started.

Many community colleges likewise offering adult teaching classes, spending near $1.vii billion final year, according to the LAO, but the colleges accept that money from their regular state funding and not from split categorical accounts.

Categorical flex is due to elapse at the finish of the 2014-15 school year, and the LAO is recommending that starting in 2015-16 developed education be restored every bit a categorical program with a dedicated funding stream. The program is a proficient candidate for restoration of funds, said Paul Steenhausen, who wrote the LAO report, because it reaches a singled-out, underserved population.

"Adult instruction is a different animal," Steenhausen said. Because it doesn't serve Grand-12 students, it is "fundamentally different from other categoricals."

However, many observers believe that the current level of flexible funding will continue beyond 2014-15 unless Gov. Dark-brown convinces the Legislature to reconfigure the schoolhouse finance system using a weighted student formula (WSF). Under this arroyo, money would follow the educatee, so schools enrolling students with greater needs, such as English language learners and those from low-income families, would receive more funds. When Gov. Brown outset proposed WSF last Jan, he didn't support separate funding for adult teaching, leading advocates to oppose it.

Even the recent passage of Proposition 30, which increases funding to schools through a combination of a pocket-sized sales revenue enhancement increment and higher income taxes on the wealthiest Californians, has not revived support for adult education, co-ordinate to Nelson.

"Nosotros're still hearing that programs are being threatened with beingness cut more than," Nelson said. "I take non heard of anybody who has said they're going to become an increase because of Prop. 30."

Roadmap to restructuring Adult Ed, California Legislative Annotator's Function. (Click to enlarge)

Instead, Nelson said he believes that schoolhouse districts volition exist under pressure level to apply increased revenues to provide raises for teachers. "Nosotros're all fighting for every piddling dollar, and information technology's unfortunate how this has played out – one plan against another."

Nelson described the situation in Sonoma Canton, which had 11 adult education schools a few years agone, but has simply i remaining programme, in Petaluma. That programme is being inundated by prospective students from all over the county. Nelson expects that Petaluma, which doesn't take the capacity to serve so many people, will soon accept to restrict its program to city residents.

One reason adult education may lack support from some legislators is the plan's uneven distribution across the land. Developed ed schools are more common in urban than rural communities.

The LAO study addresses this issue. The LAO is predicting that as the economic system improves, the state will soon be receiving more funds that must be spent on Thou-14 teaching. The report recommends that some of this new money should be allocated to adult education based on regional needs and the ability of districts, colleges and local businesses to piece of work as a team to avert duplication of services and provide smooth pathways for students to jobs and college. The LAO also recommends that funding be allocated based on student outcomes – such equally how many successfully complete courses – the way federal funds are now distributed.

But, finally, "the bigger event is how is adult ed going to get funded," Nelson said. "The LAO does recommend designated funding for adult ed, and that's very fundamental."

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Source: https://edsource.org/2012/legislative-support-elusive-for-adult-ed-funding-plan/24013

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