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Wendy Samoyoa served as 2017-18 Morning Student Council President at San Mateo Adult School. At the 2018-19 Candidate Forum, she said her farewells in a powerful speech which speaks to the value of Adult Education not just at San Mateo Adult School but across our nation. Here, with her permission, is her speech. Please read it and share. Wendy Samoyoa Farewells seem to always have a bittersweet flavor with feelings that are intertwined, although their nature is different. I feel sadness, satisfaction and also, a certain relief to be able to transfer the responsibilities of the position b ecause it’s time for new leaders. But, above all, the feeling that gains the most strength is, without a doubt, gratitude. Today culminates an important period in my life, a period in which it was a privilege and an honor to preside over this Student Council. It was a year of commitment and, in turn, a year of projects, opportunities and challenges, of hard work, meetings, struggles for the improveme...

To: All CCAE Members    Re: COABE and State Directors National Campaign to Save Adult Education     The website ( HERE ) has been established by COABE as a joint effort between the State Directors of Adult Education and COABE to prevent any cut to adult education funding at the federal level. As you know the first Trump budget proposal for FY18 has contained a 13.5% reduction for our programs.   There are now multiple options available for all of us to meet the goal of 600,000 contacts with members of Congress on this issue. The request still is for each person to make three contacts:  their two US Senators and their member of the US House.   Students, teachers, and administrators can send prepared letters or make phone calls directly to their legislators. Make a direct call or send a direct email (HERE). Alternatively, hand written letters can also be sent by students detailing their adult education experience (why they enrolled, what they a...

Shared with permission rom Kristen Pursley's Save Your Adult School blog: Write Governor Brown Now to Request More Funding for Adult Schools Posted on February 5, 2017 by kpursley In January, Governor Brown released a proposed 2017-2018 budget that, once again, fails to provide any additional money for California’s adult schools.  The  amount of the Adult Education Block Grant (AEBG), which now provides the only state funding for adult schools, is still $500 million, the same amount that was provided when the block grant was created two years ago.  Of the $500 million provided by the AEBG, only $350 million is earmarked for adult schools.  The state spent $750 million on adult schools before the financial crash of 2008.  If the budget passes with the amount of the AEBG unchanged, 2017-2018 will mark the ninth year that adult schools have gone without an increase in their state funding, which is their largest and most important source of funding.  Of...

From COABE - Commission on Adult Basic Education January 20, 2017 White House 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW Washington, DC 20500 Dear President Trump: The Coalition on Adult Basic Education (COABE) congratulates you on your inauguration as our nation’s forty fifth president! As a national organization with more than 20,000 members who are committed to strengthening Adult Education we look forward to working with your administration to create the opportunities that will put Americans back to work!   We believe this goal is consistent with the vision you articulated during your  campaign: “Ensure that the opportunity to attend a two or four-year college, or to  pursue a trade or a skill set through vocational and technical education, will be  easier to access, pay for, and finish.”   Adult Education is a federal-state partnership as well as a public-private  partnership. By way of example, Indiana Adult Education programs (WorkIndiana)  provide mat...

From Kristen Pursley's blog, "Save Your Adult School" Posted on November 26, 2016 by kpursley   Since last year, adult schools  finally have their own dedicated funding through the consortia. Adult schools have stable funding at last, and should be able to get on with the job of providing education for California’s adults. Unfortunately, adult schools are still in jeopardy because their funding is inadequate and the state apparently has no intention of increasing it. Adult school funding has not so much stabilized as fossilized, and the fossilization took place when adult school funding had been reduced by half during a chaotic period of unrestricted cuts.  In 2008, the Great Recession precipitated a budget crisis in California, and the state legislature, as an emergency measure, removed restrictions on how schools could spend most of their categorical funds, including adult school funds. From 2008 to 2013, adult school funding was in free fall as school districts took...

_________________________________________ Dear Friends and Supporters: Our organization will be hosting its major event April 3-5, 2017 in Washington D.C. where adult learners will get to learn, build relationships and continue to become leaders in the adult literacy field. As a non-profit organization built by adult learners, we hold our Leadership Institute in Capitol Hill every four years to give adult learners the opportunity in meeting directly with decision makers and legislators who can help our cause.   The Leadership Institute in Washington D.C. is the perfect place for adult learners to be in and we are determined to make the most in lowering the cost for them to participate. In this event they will get to learn critical thinking skills, organization structures and strategic planning through workshops and that knowledge can be used to better themselves, help their family, improve their program and community. Adult learners will also make contacts with other students ...

Adult Education Bill would increase funding for adult education by $250 million By Susan Frey | April 29, 2016 | 5 Comments Liv Ames for EdSource Hessam Ghajar, a recent immigrant from Iran, practices English with classmates in a San Mateo Adult School class. State legislators are considering a bill that would boost funding for adult education by $250 million – reinstating funds that were diverted to K-12 schools during the recession, causing many adult programs to close or cut back the number of classes they offered. “Every time I go back to my district, families ask when are the adult schools coming back, especially the English as a Second Language programs in local schools,” said Assemblywoman Patty Lopez , D-San Fernando, who has introduced Assembly Bill 1846 to increase funding. “There are 16,000 people on waiting lists for adult classes just in Los Angeles.” Adult schools provide free or low-cost classes to Californians who are too old for K-12 schools but not academically pre...

With permission from Kristen Pursley: Why California’s Adult Schools Need More Money Posted on March 26, 2016 by kpursley   While California’s economy  rebounds, and educational institutions from K-12 schools to universities receive healthy increases in funding, California’s adult schools remain mired in the great recession.  A new bill authored by Assemblywoman Patty Lopez (D-San Fernando), AB 1846, seeks to remedy this situation. AB 1846 would increase the Adult Education Block Grant (AEBG)  by $250 million, returning the amount of funding available to adult schools to roughly  pre-recession levels.  AB 1846 would provide sorely-needed relief to adult schools, which have been woefully underfunded for the last eight years. In addition to hampering the ability of adult schools to provide much needed services to their students, the current inadequate level of funding also locks into place inequalities that are the result of a desperate scramble for sur...

In mid January, CFT Local 4681 of San Mateo Adult School wrote and passed a resolution about Adult Education.  You can the Local 4681 resolution in full here .   Local 4681 then took their resolution, titled, "Resolution to Ensure that Adult Education Exists in Best and Fullest Capacity" to the CFT Adult Education Commission on January 23rd.   The Adult Education Commission considered it, made some alterations to it - primarily shortening it - kept the same title, and then passed it. CFT Adult Education Commission members at their January 23rd, 2016 meeting. Chair Jack Carroll is in the center bac.  Lily Adlawan, center front, is the Local 4681 member who brought the resolution to the meeting. Kathy Jasper, in the red Adult Education Matters t-shirt, is an AEC member and also a CFT Vice President in the CFT State Executive Council. Both resolutions - different with the same name and the same intention - were submitted to the CFT 2016 State Convention ...