By: Jean Womack

Jean Womack — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 06:26:52 +0000

I worked briefly for Oakland’s adult ed program, mainly going to senior centers and nursing homes to observe. That was part of my training to work a susbstitute for them. Many of the teachers did not want an observer in their classroom even though I had a right to be there and had been assigned by their supervisor. So you should consider that perhaps a lot of the adult ed teachers do not want to cooperate with the system in order to have the minimum supervision necessary to keep a program going. So then what choice do they have but to cut the program if a teacher won’t even let an observer into the classroom? I don’t know any employer who gives an employee carte blanche to do whatever they want.

By: Nextset

Nextset — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 02:02:16 +0000

This is not a happy situation. Adult Ed serves people who need rehab after going to defective public high schools that fail to correct bad thinking, bad morals and bad culture. It also handles the Mexican Invasion of adult zero generation, 1st generation and 2nd + generation students who even if they were willing (and most of them weren’t) could not absorb English & enough American Mores to function in our society. Much of the population I see involved in adult ed also have mental problems and personality disorders that were not diagnosed, treated or corrected in adolescence. In the adult years 20 to 40 they have been Dx’ed and are being worked on, and it’s time for the patient to get rudimentary education now that they have learned how to sit still and behave in a classroom (and the babies have been born also..).

This population have needs below the Jr College level. Adult Education is part of their rehab. It is part of these people starting to support themselves and insinuate themselves into the workforce.

And as much as this costs it’s far far less than county jail beds, state prison beds, and state hospital beds. The taxpayers should expect to fund at least a reasonable number of seats in adult ed. Like the public secondary schools there is a need for the taxpayer to see that the money is reasonably limited and well spent. Working people and their families do not want to fund any kind of a welfare system so that potheads and baby factories can be made comfortable while the taxpayers work 2 jobs.

Maybe Adult Ed should be taken away from the Educrats and given to the control of the labor unions and the industry councils. The Union apprentice schools and programs are known for not tolerating slackers and weeding them out.

Maybe we need “Charter” Adult Ed schools.

Whatever the arrangement is, Adult Schools that take students reasonably screened for commitment to change are a good value and important to society. It’s a form of social work that we need in this Brave New World.

Comments on: The dismantling of California’s adult ed system

By: Jean Womack

By: Nextset