Posted by Azusa Adult School in response to today's LAT article, "Gov. Brown leaves his mark"

We had the same thoughts;

In today's LA Times article, Brown is celebrating; however, did you notice that there was no mentioning, not one single word whatsoever, concerning the support of adult education in the entire lengthy article? It doesn't make any sense, but it's actually expected somehow.  Adult Ed. doesn't have the clout nor does it have the power it once held when people with more foresight were directly concerned about the educational level of their adult constituency. It is a well known fact that educated adults are more likely to help their children to master educational expectations at grade level. It seems as if Susan Frey from EdSource, made it her mission to continue to cover adult education and our plight in the press. If we give up and just stop caring for our fellow citizen in California, we are not any better than the politicians who purposely allowed the shifting of adult ed funds into districts' general fund without restrictions. 

Without restrictions in place, it was an easy and predictable move that districts up and down the state saw adult ed funding as an effortless way to fix their budgets. In all fairness, not all districts took advantage of it. Districts like Try Community, Baldwin Park, Montebello, and Hacienda LaPuente are just a few of a handful of districts who didn't jump on the bandwagon of easy money. Azusa district, although eliminating many of its classes since 2009, kept the school open until now. We still hold out hopes, however, until further notice the school is slated to be closed for good within the next few weeks unless there are changes at the state level adding $$$$ to K12 funding. Naturally, that all has to do with the elected school (board) officials and how they perceive the significance of lifelong learning and education. I just don't understand when a board member is saying "that their loyalty lies with the children." However, how can they say that when they, at the same time, take away the only opportunity this child's parents have to learn the language, get employment skills, and become involved in their child's life?

There are many ways to fix districts' budget dilemmas without diminishing adult ed funds and shutting down 100-year- old educational avenues that work. Adult ed is inexpensive, and it also helps K12 districts with their mission to educate high school students  and allow them to catch up on needed coursework. So let's hope for the best that Sacramento's politicians are willing to go the extra mile and actively look to find a way to keep adult education around for another 100 years.