ADULT EDUCATION IN PALM BEACH COUNTY

The Palm Beach County Public School District, the fifteenth largest school district in the nation, has the primary responsibility for adult basic education and English literacy classes in the county. About 60 percent of the adult education classes offered by the district are classes in English for speakers of other languages. Although the school district is the main provider of adult education in the county, the Coalition largely markets the district's services and recruits learners.

Callers to the literacy hotline may be directed to one of the school district's adult education classes, depending on their educational goals and geographic location. In exchange, the school district provides funds to the Coalition to support outreach and recruitment activities and mini-grants to smaller providers for professional development, books, and other materials. As Roger Pelser, manager of adult education and workforce development for the school district, observed, "We just could never do our job without the Coalition. We'd have to allocate more money and staff to accomplish what the Coalition does for us.... We piggy-back nicely with the Coalition." Instead of spending money on newspaper ads or bus signs, the school district can concentrate on doing what it does best—providing services—and let the Coalition handle what it does best—outreach and recruitment.

Most of the adult education classes in Palm Beach County take place at several centrally located facilities. But one goal of the Coalition hotline is to help adult learners find programs appropriate to their goals and convenient to their location. Several smaller sites provide educational programs for adults, often with the financial support from the school system funneled through the Coalition. The Coalition also provides support to these sites through AmeriCorps volunteers, money for professional development, and free books. Because these sites are smaller and often more geographically dispersed, they benefit greatly from the Coalition's efforts to recruit tutors and learners and guide them to appropriate programs.