School districts throughout California are weighing the fate of adult education courses that serve dropouts, recent immigrants and others at the margins of the economy as Gov. Jerry Brown proposes shifting the classes from K-12 to community colleges.
While the move is part of Brown's goal to give local schools more control over their money, the idea has college leaders wondering how they would manage the new responsibilities and adult students pondering what would happen if their programs are forced to close.
"That will mess a lot of people up, really," said Cierra Craig, a 20-year-old mother who said she started a GED class in Oakland last month so she could go to college and land a decent job. "The people
Luis Estrada, left, and Ivan Vega, both 24, work on geometry exercises during a GED class at Youth UpRising in Oakland., Calif., on Thursday, Feb. 28, 2013. (Ray Chavez/Staff) ( RAY CHAVEZ )
that made mistakes in their life and are trying to fix it, that will stop them."
The plan would give community colleges an additional $300 million to set up similar adult education programs, including high school diploma or equivalency courses, vocational education and citizenship classes. College leaders note the amount is less than half of what the state spent on adult schools five years ago, and that colleges have no experience running some of these programs.