STOP Gov. Brown's budget proposalthat shifts Adult Education Services from the K-12 school system to Community Colleges and funds them with a new $300M block grant. The Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO) provides protection for Adult Schools and allocates a dedicated funding source in the K-12 school districts to ensure Adult Education survives in California. The LAO supports a two-tiered system placing Adult Education in-charge of non-credit basic skills education and Certificate Vocational Education for job preparation while the Community Colleges focus on credit education for transfer to the CSU/UC system along with credentialed occupational preparation. Not only did Gov. Brown ignore the recommendation of theLAO to keep Adult Education within the K-12 system; he is also proposing to allow K-12 school districts to spend Adult Education funding as unrestricted money. This would result in some, if not all, school districts to discontinue their Adult Education Programs. This will result in increased high school drop-out ratesin the state; a decrease in student test scores due to parents not becoming self sufficient and learning basic skills; crime rates will increase and there will be a large number of abandoned school properties throughout the state. This would contribute to a rise in unemploymentwhich is alreadyat record levels in California. Attendance at adult schools is currently manageable and affordable for most of its students; it won't be the same case if the governor's proposalpasses through thelegislation and Adult School services are shifted tothe Community Colleges. According to CNN, the average cost of Community College tuition and fees has skyrocketed to $2,963 per year! This is not affordable for the working adult who is trying to raise their family and better their lives. Community Colleges are not positioned to offer adult education services for our community. They do not have both classroom and parking spaces for thousands of additional students nor do they have the local presence that K-12 Adult Schools currently have. Protect and SAVE AdultEducation in Californiaso thatthey can improve and continue to provide invaluable services to our communities!

Let us take a stand on this important issue which is bound to affect our lives, our entire community and the state of California!

K-12 Governor’s budget Proposal:

http://www.ebudget.ca.gov/pdf/BudgetSummary/Kthru12Education.pdf

Higher Ed Governor’s Budget Proposal:

http://www.ebudget.ca.gov/pdf/BudgetSummary/HigherEducation.pdf

The LAO report that is in favor of Adult Ed remaining in the K-12’s with a dedicated funding stream that the Governor ignored.

http://www.lao.ca.gov/reports/2012/edu/adult-education/restructuring-adult-education-120412.pdf