Dallas Independent School District Drops Adult Education

/ The Old Crank

According to this story in the Dallas Morning News, the Dallas Independent School District is planning to drop their adult education program, which has provided free GED and English as a second language classes for 38 years.

According to the story, the DISD decided to drop the program in order to focus on pre-K through 12 students. Moreover, while the program is grant-funded (state and federal—presumably Workforce Investment Act—funds), they are no longer able—or willing—to fund the administrative expense of managing the grant:

“That’s really where we want to continue spending our efforts,” Daniels said. “Certainly, it’s no secret that we have lost a number of administrative positions, and while this is a grant-funded program, there would need to be some administrative oversight from our staff. So we decided that it would be best for everyone if another fiscal agent took on the grant.”

DISD’s adult education program is the third-largest in the state, serving about 7,000 adult students each year. The Texas Education Agency is now in the process of searching for another school district or organization to take over the program.

Georgia Senate Passes Bill Requiring Food Stamp Recipients to Participate in Educational Activities

/ The Old Crank / 2 Comments

It was widely reported yesterday that the Georgia Senate passed SB 312, a bill that would require food stamp recipients to earn their GED, pursue technical education, attend personal development classes of some kind, or enroll in adult literacy classes. The text of the original bill can be found in this earlier post. I took a quick look this morning and I don’t see any significant amendments to the bill as introduced, but you can investigate  for yourself by following the history of the bill here (bottom of the page).

According to USA Today, the bill exempts people under 16 or over 59; the mentally or physically disabled; people working at least 30 hours a week; students; participants in alcohol or drug rehabilitation programs, caretakers for a dependent child under six years of age or for an incapacitated adult or people receiving unemployment benefits. The Georgia Department of Human Services would create a five-county pilot program before taking the initiative statewide.

But I don’t see any reports, or any language in the bill or amendments, suggesting that an increase to adult education funding is included as part of this initiative. The intent of the bill, according Sen. William Ligon, the bill’s sponsor, was “to help underemployed Georgians get the professional development training they need to better themselves.” I would have assumed that an initiative intended to—and that likely will—increase demand for adult education services would include additional funding for those services. Perhaps there are separate efforts underway to make more funding available.

Another source reports that the Georgia Department of Audits and Accounts estimates the pilot program will cost $23 million, and statewide implementation expected to cost $772 million. But I don’t think those costs include additional state investment in adult education services. I’d love to be wrong!

Of course, there is also a question as to whether it’s fair or makes sense to mandate unrelated and possibly (for some) unrealistic requirements to a program that is designed to provide a very minimal level of food security to poor people. There are often good reasons why people are not be able to participate in training programs or adult education, including lack of transportation and/or lack of appropriate services.

Economic Growth as Spectator Sport

/ The Old Crank

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan appeared at a forum on education at American University here in Washington last Friday, and, according to news reports, told the audience that, “[a]s a country we’re going to educate our way to a better economy or we’re going to struggle.” Sec. Duncan uses this line—or variation of it—a lot. (He used it during his appearance on The Daily Show a couple of weeks ago, for example.)

But if a “better” economy is one in which lower and middle class incomes are rising, then we may have additional work to do. From a post by Jared Bernstein on his blog today:

All of the factors driving up inequality remain in place, most notably, high unemployment, and we know from profits data (way up), corporate balance sheets (way flush), and real paychecks of middle-class workers (way flat), that what growth has occurred hasn’t reached much below the top end.

If this expansion is to be one where growth is more than a spectator sport for average folks, we’ve got some serious policy work to do.

In other words, if this is how our economic recovery is playing out, will improving education and increasing the skills of our workforce—while undeniably good policy goals—be enough to move low and middle class wages in the right direction?

Clark County Nevada Correctional Education Improves Economy and Public Safety, Budget Is Cut Anyway

/ The Old Crank

Excellent article by Paul Takahashi in the Las Vegas Sun over the weekend about an adult education and vocational training program based at the High Desert State Prison in Nevada, about 40 miles northwest of Las Vegas. According to the Sun, more than 300 inmates are served through this program, operated by the Clark County School District through a partnership with the Nevada Department of Corrections.

About 75% of inmates who receive their GED, high school diploma or a vocational certificate through this program never return to prison. By contrast, the overall recidivism rate for inmates 18 to 20 years old is about 50%.

Unfortunately, funding for adult education and vocational programs at prisons across the state has been dramatically reduced in recent years. Clark County has cut the budget for this program by 28%.

(Corrected on 3/14: forgot to add a link to the original story!)