The Center for Public Policy Priorities has just issued a report, “The Texas GED Problem Is Getting Worse,” which traces the steady decline in the number of Texans attempting to pass the GED over the last five years.
Some news coverage here:
Texas
“They want to learn because they know that it’s benefitting their children.”
No time these days to maintain this site on anything close to a regular schedule, but I thought I’d break my long silence to log this quote reported in the Celina Record, (in Texas), about the influence of adult education in children’s educational success, a favorite topic of this blog:
[Jill Roza, the district’s director of adult education services] was the assistant principal at Celina Intermediate School. She said that she had frequently encountered parents “who didn’t feel comfortable coming into the school system if they didn’t speak English,” which made it difficult to “get them the information they needed for their children to be successful” in school. “Many did not have a firm foundation in their own language,” she recalled, “and so I wanted to do something that would create that harmony between the community and the school and would make them feel much more comfortable coming into a school setting.”
Roza added: “Watching them come into class with their supplies, they are so excited and they want to learn because they know that it’s benefitting their children. Many of them will say,’I want to help my child with their work.’”
“Adult literacy an economic issue for San Antonio”
An editorial in the San Antonio Express-News last week claims that there is just one “formal” adult literacy program for the entire city of San Antonio—stunning, if true—and calls on the local community to come together to address the need for adult literacy services the same way it has come together to support early childhood education and homelessness:
The city of San Antonio has shown great initiative in addressing early childhood education. The creation of Haven for Hope was a bold attempt to provide one-stop services for the homeless population.
There is no reason the community can’t rally around improving adult literacy, as well. It is in the best interest of our families, economy, present and future.
Dallas Independent School District Drops Adult Education
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.
Literacy & Policy 