George Porter's "meet us halfway" funding proposal for Older Adult Programs

George (a teacher at Berkeley Adult School) has edited his letter to be under 2,000 characters 

so it will fit in the "comment" box on legislators websites.

Contact your assembly member, senator, and Governor Brown 

if you agree* with George's plan to save OA programs!

write your own or copy & paste this one:

RE: SB-173 (now before the Assembly) - DON'T ELIMINATE FUNDING FOR ADULT
ED'S OLDER ADULTS PROGRAMS, MEET THEM HALFWAY - A FUNDING PROPOSAL.

Adult Ed.'s Older Adults programs promote the ongoing health, independence,
socioeconomic contributions and civic engagement of older Californians and
this is increasingly important to the State's economic and civic weal. The
funding formula presented here will not result in the sudden growth of these
now small programs but instead preserve the existing infrastructure and
courses and allow for moderate expansion as the demand increases with the
size of the demographic served. It's intention is to keep these offerings
affordable for middle-class, older citizens who are living on a fixed income
as well as to provide additional support to those who are living below the
poverty line and the disabled.

THE FUNDING PROPOSAL:

Local Adult Schools are limited to claiming from the Adult Education
apportionment 50% of the costs to provide courses contained in the Older
Adults programs. A student fee may be raised to cover the additional cost.
These fees may be off-set by community contribution and/or support from the
overseeing School District's general fund with approval of it's governing
board. All cost savings resulting from providing offsite classroom space (at
Senior and Community Centers, etc.) will be considered as contribution and
may be used to offset student fees. The Adult Schools may also claim
additional funds from the Adult Education apportionment to provide fee
reductions for seniors living below the poverty line and disabled students.
In no case may an Adult School claim more than its net cost of providing the
aggregate of courses within this program with the exception of maintaining a
specifically designated reserve not to exceed 20% of the program's estimated
annual budget.

* Some Older Adult advocates are not comfortable with the idea of charging fees.  That's the beauty of this great nation we live in ~ you decide for yourself what you think is the best course of action.  After you do so, it's your civic responsibility to let your elected officials know what you think.  It's never been easier (see the links at the top of this post).