The Future of Adult Education in California

California is kind of unique in the wonderful adult education system it has. There are the usual university and college systems which are, of course, adult education. There are also the community colleges which help with vocational training and transfer courses for college and university at a savings to the student and their parents. Of course that is also adult education. But California has a unique adult education system that has been around for over 150 years. It came into existence basically to help immigrants learn English and then get job training to become productive and contributing members of their new home.

The California Legislature took steps last year that seriously maim this system and actually wiped it out in some cases. Adult Education was placed into the third tier of the flexibility options for education spending dollars. This gave school districts the choice of how to use the money that had been earmarked to be used just for adult education in years past. Many smaller school districts immediately did away with adult education programs and took the money to balance their K-12 budgets. Medium to large districts took measures to bring about a slow whittling away process of adult education in their districts. The first year was the grab of all the reserve funds. The second year (this year) has started the major inroads into the life of adult education programs.

The flexibility of adult education funding was legislated to last through the school year 2012-13. Some of the large programs may make it with a skeleton still in place and hopefully with a small amount of flesh left. The process though brings bad morale to the valuable staff are the adult education program facilitators. Pink slips are issued whether the teachers and office staff will have a job or not. The process demoralizes the teacher and office worker to such a state that it is difficult to hold out hope for a future for adult education.

The strong, however, believe there is a future. They know adult education plays a valuable role in the infrastructure of the education system in California. Most Californians who have not had a need to use adult education's services have no idea what a valuable jewel they have been providing to their fellow citizens. My challenge to Californians who have no idea what adult education does for the community is for them to ask an adult educator -- while you can still find one!