RE: Question 1: Attracting and Retaining Teachers

I greatly appeciate the comments of Senator Karnette, who has always been an advocate for education and a champion for adult education.
Adult school teachers are uniquely situated to have a positive impact on the educational success of the adults and children who live in low income communities. These teachers often bring with them a wealth of experience and insight from the workforce, and serve as role models and cheerleaders for their students. But the students they work with are often English learners, learning disabled, or have other special needs. 

Many teachers start in adult education with little teaching experience, and we need to provide comprehensive on-the-job support in the best instructional methodologies. Additionally, adult school teachers are required to report extensive accountability and testing data to the state, create lesson plans based on model standards, and collaborate with community and workplace-related resources. Yet adult school teachers do not have the paid staff development days that K-12 teachers have. They are usually hourly teachers, paid only for the instructional hours that they teach. Adult educators have access to some wonderful resources such as OTAN and CALPRO, but instructional programs could benefit from funding for comprehensive, paid professional development programs for teachers.