PORTLAND — A proposed $338,000 budget cut would jeopardize adult education programs that have long waiting lists and serve thousands of students from across southern Maine and beyond, according to staff members and students in the programs.

Superintendent Jim Morse said trimming the $2.3 million adult ed budget in the coming school year was a difficult recommendation he had to make in the face of a $4 million reduction in state and federal funding.

Additional Photos

Joline Friedman, center, a teacher at Portland’s Street Academy, helps Ashley Holston work toward a GED certificate. The academy accommodated 233 youths last year, including 35 who earned their GED. John Patriquin/Staff Photographer

Joel Braule, one of two teachers at Portland's Street Academy, works with Maggie Erwin.

About $250,000 in savings would come from eliminating 8.5 adult ed teaching positions that are covered by the district’s teachers’ union contract and include health insurance and other benefits.

The positions would be replaced by instructors who would be paid $27 an hour and receive no benefits. The program currently has 35 hourly instructors.

The full impact of the change is unclear at this time, but it could be dramatic because the full-time teachers do a lot more than just teach, said Ron Wood, an adult ed coordinator. They also develop curriculum, advise students, write grant applications, train hourly instructors and oversee volunteer classroom aides.

“Eliminating our contracted teachers would devastate our academic programs,” Wood said. “We have no social workers, no interpreters, no ed techs or special education staff. Our contracted teachers do all that. They’re more like teacher leaders.”

The loss of full-time teachers also could jeopardize more than $560,000 in federal, state and foundation grants that fund about one-quarter of the adult ed budget, Wood said, because it’s unclear who would write the grants going forward.

The superintendent noted that most adult ed programs in Maine hire only hourly instructors.

Morse said his budget for the 2011-12 school year focuses on educating students in preschool through high school as the central responsibility of Maine’s largest school district. He also noted that many of 81 positions targeted for cuts districtwide will be spared by pending retirements. The budget will be finalized by May.

“We cannot keep a rich adult ed program at the expense of our core programs,” Morse said. “We’re not saying adult ed teachers aren’t working hard. We simply cannot afford it.”

Morse also has proposed eliminating one of two adult ed coordinator positions. Wood oversees academic programs. Gail Senese coordinates job skills programs such as computer technology, certified nursing assistant and resume writing. They each earn about $88,000 in salaries and benefits.

Wood and others say Portland’s adult ed program cannot depend on hourly instructors for several reasons. Portland’s program is the largest in Maine, providing academic and job skills courses to more than 2,400 students last year from Kennebunk to Hiram to Topsham. The program cannot discriminate based on geography because it receives federal funding, Wood said.

Because Portland has a large immigrant community, 245 adults are on a waiting list for English classes. Seventy-five percent of academic classes also have waiting lists.

The adult ed program awarded 240 diplomas and General Educational Development certificates in 2010 — more than Portland High School and almost as many as Deering High School.

The program also served 233 homeless youths through its Street Academy, which helped 35 young people earn their GEDs last year. Located at the Preble Street Teen Center, the academy lost one position to budget cuts this year. That left Joline Friedman and Joel Beaule, who have worked there since 1995 and 1999, respectively.

One of their positions is grant funded, Wood said. The other would become an hourly job without benefits.

Friedman and Beaule aren’t sure how proposed budget cuts will affect them. They’re hoping the teachers’ union will fight to keep them covered by the contract. Union leaders couldn’t be reached for comment Monday.

Through the years, Friedman and Beaule have worked with hundreds of youths who are homeless, out of school and without family support. They form strong relationships with many of the teens, which leads some of them to return for guidance and support long after they get their GEDs.

One of those homeless teens was Jason Moody. Now 30, he lives in Portland, works at AAA and plans to go to college next year. He was at Street Academy on Monday, seeking help with a financial aid application.

“I found a lantern in the dark here,” Moody said. “These kids are coming from difficult backgrounds and they’re homeless and they don’t trust easily.

“If it’s just some random teachers coming in, it would be really hard for kids to open up and feel connected. It might save money in the short term, but it’s going to hurt this program in the long run.”

Staff Writer Kelley Bouchard can be contacted at 791-6328 or at:
kbouchard@pressherald.com

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