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Many students are asking:
* Why are we wearing Red for Adult Ed on Tuesdays?
* What is our goal?
* How can wearing red help us reach our goal?
These are good questions.
Here are some answers:
We talk a lot in ESL class about our goals.
We talk about what we want - a new job, a better job, starting a business, becoming a citizen, helping our kids succeed in life and school.
We talk about how to get what we want - improving our English, writing a resume, going to college, learning about how things work in the US.
To get what we want, to reach our goal, we need plans and strategies.
What's a plan?
A plan is a list of steps... one, two, three, four and more...
that take us to our goal.
It's like a stairway.
A stairway that is a list of things to do.
Do this and this and this and then this... and then... victory!
Of course, sometimes when we are walking up those steps, we encounter obstacles.
We have problems. Things get in our way.
We stop our progress and we don't reach our goal.
Other times, we encounter opportunities.
The trick is: Are we ready for them? Do we realize that's what they are? Or do we see them as unwanted and unexpected and push them aside because they are not part of our plan?
That's why we need strategies.
Strategies can help us go up, over, around or even through our obstacles and take advantage of opportunities because there are always obstacles and opportunities in every path.
A strategy includes preparation and plans for both..
What's a strategy?
A strategy is a way of thinking about what you want, how you can get there, the obstacles you might encounter, the people and resources that help you, and what will you need to do keep it all going.
It is like when you play chess.
You make plans with this idea in your mind.
And as the other player makes their moves and changes the board, you adjust your plans.
You adjust your ideas.
A strategy is higher level thinking than a plan.
It is an art and a science. It includes both ideas and plans. And it is always changing -
because life is always changing so our strategies must change, too.
This is the situation with Adult Schools.
It is always changing - especially in the past five or six years. To survive, we had to change, too.
The government made K12 Adult Schools - like our school - the donor to help K12 Schools.
We gave and gave. Some of us died: some schools closed.
Every K12 Adult School got smaller.
It was a terrible time for all Adult Education, especially K12 Adult Schools.
Then the economy improved.
And the people of California passed Prop 30 - a special tax to give more money to education.
This was good.
We all hoped that everything would be okay for Adult Education and K12 Adult Schools.
But! The governor wanted to put all Adult Education inside Community Colleges.
No more K12 Adult Schools like ours. This was bad!
And! K12 Adult Schools were still donors. Their money could bleed out to help others.
This was very bad!
So we worked very hard.
Our goal was to save and rebuild Adult Education.
Our strategy was to carry our message to everyone and ask the Governor and Legislature to understand the value of Adult Education and change their plan.
Our message was
* Adult Education matters
* Keep K12 Adult Schools - don't put all Adult Education inside the Community College system
* Give K12 Adult Schools Designated Funding - give them their own protected money
We used conversations, rallies, letters, emails, phone calls, visits to Sacramento, social media, and many other ways to carry our message to the community, the Legislature, and the Governor.
It half-worked.
Half is good!
First, many, many people began to understand: Adult Education matters!
This was huge and good.
And K12 Adult Schools did NOT go inside the Community College system.
And... the Governor said that if K12 Adult Schools and Community Colleges work together in a new system (the Regional Consortia system), he wants them to have money in 2015-16.
This was good - half-good.
The idea is good. But it is just an idea.
That is why we are still working.
That is why we are wearing Red for Adult Education on Tuesdays.
Because we still need Designated Funding.
We still need our money. Our own protected money that can't be bled out to help others.
Adult Education is important. Very important.
We have an important job to do and we need money to do it.
So what's our goal? What's our strategy? What's our plan?
Our goal is Designated Funding. Solid money for K12 Adult Education.
To reach our goal, we need the Legislature to make a law that gives us Designated Funding.
And we need the Governor to sign the law.
Sometimes the Governor doesn't like a law, so he vetoes it. This happened recently when he didn't like some gun control laws.
When that happens, it goes back to the Legislature. They can make changes. Or if enough of them vote on it, they can over-ride the Governor's veto and it becomes a law, anyway.
What is our strategy?
Wake up the people of California and the Legislature and the Governor.
Remind them: Adult Education matters!
K12 Adult Schools help California!
There is a new system - Regional Consortia -
but K12 Adult Schools can't do a good job in the new system without Designated Funding.
Help K12 Adult Schools to help California: Give K12 Adult Schools Designated Funding.
How do you wake someone up?
How do you remind someone of something?
One way is to bring the message in a way that calls attention.
Look! Look at us! Listen! Listen to our message!See and hear our value!
See how we help you!
Help us so we can help you!
This is the strategy behind Red for Adult Education on T-shirt Tuesdays:
Call attention to Adult Education. Call attention to K12 Adult Schools.
Ask for Designated Funding.
Ask the press to cover our story.
Remind the community of our value. Ask them to speak to the Legislature and the Governor.
Ask the Legislature and the Governor to help us.
This strategy will be more effective if K12 Adult Schools all over California do this.
When many, many people do something, people wake up.
People say, "Oh! What is that?! I am listening! I am paying attention! What are you telling me?"
And what are we telling people?
 |
| Student Advocate Marina and Teacher Cynthia |
We are telling them:
* Adult Education matters
* K12 Adult Schools need Designated Funding so they can do their job and help the people of California.
This is why we are promoting Red for Adult Ed on Tuesdays.
To call attention to our value and our need for Designated Funding.
This is our goal and this is our strategy.
We have already achieved some of our goals with our strategies.
And we will achieve more.
Why?
Because Adult Education people - students and staff - have a special talent:
We don't give up. We keep trying - even when others quit.
We know that even when things look difficult or even impossible, progress is possible.
Through persistence and patience, wisdom and smarts, courage and cooperation, we achieve victory.
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