New Cuts to Adult Literacy Programs in California Appear Likely

New Cuts to Adult Literacy Programs in California Appear Likely
Policy Notes: 12.12.2011 by Jeff Carter [ Reposted ]

The Sacramento Bee reports this morning that it is likely that California’s revenue expectations will fall far short of what was hoped for when the budget was passed back in in June. The Legislative Analyst’s Office is expecting $3.7 billion less than expected, and according to the budget scheme Governor Brown and the California legislature came up with last spring, this would result in automatic cuts to to libraries, universities and schools. (The governor and the California legislature inserted $2.5 billion in new cuts that automatically trigger if the Governor’s Department of Finance determines California will fall short of their revenue projections.)

These cuts will include $15 million in library funding, which would hit California’s large network of volunteer-driven adult literacy programs pretty hard. The Bee quotes Michael Dillon, a lobbyist for the California Library Foundation, who says the cuts “would significantly impact readers and people trying to get sufficient reading skills.”

In addition, it appears to me that the potential for further cuts to adult education operated by school districts is also a strong possibility. That is because further K-12 reductions are also possible, although the Bee reports that it is unclear how deep into school budgets the state will cut, if at all.

If it does, I would expect further cuts to adult education will result, as school districts respond by continuing to shift dollars away from adult education to shore up K-12 budgets. The California Budget Act (CBA) allows school districts to this, and it has been happening all over California for the last few years. I wrote about one such example here.

The new revenue forecast will be out this week.