Adult Education

Adding his voice to a chorus of protesters disagreeing with the Oxnard Union High School District's threat to drop adult education, a consultant for the state Department of Education has criticized the district, saying its position does not "make any sense."

Hot on the heels of two reports that cite financial mismanagement in its mammoth adult education program, the Hacienda La Puente Unified School Board has agreed to lend the program $8.5 million from its general fund until next summer to cover shortfalls. Under the agreement reached Tuesday night, the adult education program, which has an annual budget of $35.

The Hacienda La Puente Unified School District will have to return about $3 million in state funding because school officials wrongfully collected funds for adult education programs that were not approved by the state. District officials say that of the money that must be returned to the state to amend accounting mistakes made during the 1990-91 fiscal year, $2.5 million will be siphoned from the adult education program.

Tony award-winning dancer and television actor Ben Vereen, making his first public appearance since being hit by a truck in June, told teachers in adult-education programs their role is important to society. Vereen told the 1,800 participants at the 10th annual Adult Education Conference at the Anaheim Hilton and Towers that they teach those who fell through cracks in the educational system, such as ex-prisoners, unwed mothers and immigrants.

Two independent reports have sharply criticized management of adult education in the Hacienda La Puente Unified School District, including practices that could leave the district with as much as a $5.6-million deficit, officials said this week.

Inside a white tent at the Convention Center Auto Show, tucked between the bumper sticker peddlers and the fellows hawking polishing cloths, Ben Avila hands out flyers touting one of the day's best deals--low-cost training to launch a career in auto repair. Avila teaches automotive repair in the Los Angeles Unified School District's adult education program, but he sometimes feels more like a salesman than an instructor, as he tries to keep his classes full.

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Ventura County schools could soon start educating a more mature group of students--adults who don't speak English fluently--through a little-known clause in the anti-bilingual-education Proposition 227. County educators have until the end of the month to apply for upward of $1.5 million earmarked annually for the "community-based English tutoring" program created by the landmark ballot initiative.

A 29-year-old San Diego man who had gotten by with minimal reading skills all his life failed to realize he had a problem until three years ago, while looking for a job. "I didn't know that I couldn't read until my wife told me," he said. "My wife always filled out job applications for me and wrote out checks. I thought I read enough to get by. I could write my name."

California has proved to be a land of opportunity where hard work delivers prosperity and nurtures innovation. Its human capital has helped the state develop into the world's ninth-largest economy, which attracts nearly half of the venture capital in the nation. But this opportunity and success have not reached everyone, and the California dream is in danger of slipping away. Today, California ranks first in the country in the number of working low-income families. "Working Hard, Left Behind," a new study conducted by the Campaign for College Opportunity, found that millions in the state are working hard but are increasingly left behind.