RE: Student Learning - Adults and their children

This is a followup to comments from yesterday's discussion. My technology (today's discussion) crashed just before ending my day at school (9:30p.m.) when my computer locked-up.

I wanted to add my full agreement to Beverly Denicola excellent comments about adult education and the "low-income, immigrant adults and their children" that we serve. I would add that there are two other significant populations that are served by adult educators statewide. First is the concurrent population. High school students attend after-school adult classes making up credits to graduate with their high school, having failed these courses at high school. Second major population served, is those who have fallen through the "system" and dropped out of high school and are having success in learning a trade, and earning a high school diploma from adult education programs statewide.

Thousands and thousands of these student populations statewide attend local facilities day, afternoon, and evening hours to learn English, study citizenship, learn parenting and literacy skills, earn high school credits, learn job skills that will get them employed, upgrade skills for a promotion, and adults earning the high school diploma.

A move by the governor to blend adult education programs into the community college system would leave all these populations underserved/unserved, as the CC system would never be able to achieve the flexibility in choosing local sites (adult education for the most part operates out of plants owned by the governing school district), nor serve the needs of the community by providing the myriad of programs available in adult education classrooms statewide. 

If these populations (low-income, immigrant adults and their children; concurrent students and high school drop-outs; and Parents) are to be adequately served, The California Master Plan must specify that the delivery system include Adult Education.
Tony Salso