Budget Cuts to Adult Ed Impacting Workforce

The next generation of Californians could enter the workforce lacking basic skills as the two state institutions that help adults improve in reading, writing and arithmetic suffer from a lack of funding and coordination, a new report says.

The study by the California Budget Project looks at the Adult Education Program and community colleges, two separate systems that offer remedial classes to 1.5 million adults who need help to prepare for jobs or additional education. According to the report: "There is growing concern that the next generation of California's workers will have lower levels of educational attainment than the generation that preceded it. At a time of increasing global competition, the implications of a decline in the skills of the workforce could be serious, both for the state's economic future and for the economic well-being of its residents."

Click here to view the report.