MILLIONS of students in California are served by the Adult Education system - a program that has served us for over 150 years. This system is at great risk right now of being dismantled (in whole or in part) throughout the state.
The purpose of this blog is to begin a dialogue regarding how we can re-invent Adult Education in California.
As an Adult Education teacher since 1980 in (Hayward) and an elected school board member (in West Contra Costa Unified School District), I see clearly how important Adult Education is to the families of our state. We teach our parents to care for their children, we provide classes for our seniors and the disabled, we offer a second-chance to those who need it for their high school diploma and GED, we provide effective and efficient career training, and we provide the important opportunity to learn English and become a citizen. Each of these needs is important.
California has always been the land of dreams -- and the incubator of the ideas that make those dreams come true.
This blog is about sharing your ideas about Adult Education in California. We need to brainstorm and share our IDEAS and our SOLUTIONS.
We need to ponder some questions and share the solutions some of us have come up with.
The questions are many.
Some are broad and go to the larger political issue: How did the state get into this mess? What is the root cause? What does Adult Education look like in other states? What does the stimulus package offer for Adult Education?
Some are regional: What are the other local Adult School programs doing? Can we collaborate on programs and create a regional network? What should we charge for classes?
Some are specific to teachers: What will happen to my job? Is Adult Ed still a viable career path?
Some are specific to students: What will happen to my program? How will I complete my certificate?
The big question is: WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?
This blog is about finding/creating the answers to all our questions.
The phrase we keep hearing is that we must create a new "paradigm" -- and we must. Here's an example:
PROBLEM: We are closing preschool centers and no longer offering classes in our senior centers.
SOLUTION: We could follow the lead of On Lok, Inc. and create "intergenerational" centers (See
http://www.onlok.org/Sharesite/content.asp?catid=240000417&scatid=240000418) siting preschools in senior centers.
The purpose of this blog is to help us identify problems and brainstorm solutions -- and, ultimately, to reinvent Adult Education in California.
I've listed links to background information and to a variety of organizations working on education issues in California. Please inform yourselves.
Overall, in California, education funding needs to be:
stabililzed (so that it is predictable and budgets can be fairly created)
increased (so that we are no longer at the bottom of the pack in funding per student -- always expected to do more with less); and
fairly and effectively used (less bureaucracy/redundancy).
Please join in.
Madeline Kronenberg
Hayward Adult School Instructor
West Contra Costa Unified School District
School Board Member
mkronen@aol.com
510-334-9646
California Adult Education
Bridges to Success for Over 150 Years
About Me
- Madeline Kronenberg
- Madeline Kronenberg retired in 2010 from the staff at Hayward Adult School after teaching there since 1980 after a successful 15 year career in administrative support serving in the federal government and corporate law firms. Ms. Kronenberg served as the Legal Secretarial Studies Program instructor at Hayward Adult School for over thirty years. During that time she also taught word processing and computer classes. In 1998 she began the Customer Service Certificate program. In 2003 she was awarded the State “Teacher of Excellence Award” by the California Council for Adult Education. Over the years, she has been active in the West Contra Costa Unified School District – where she served in numerous capacities as a parent volunteer – holding several PTA officer and school-wide elected positions at both Portola Middle School and El Cerrito High School from 1991 through 2006. Ms.Kronenberg currently serves on the West Contra Costa Unified School District School Board – elected in 2006 for a four year term. Ms. Kronenberg has five grown children and is married to Berkeley estate planning attorney Hale Kronenberg.