Unallotment may hurt local Community Ed

The St. Croix River Education District (SCRED) expressed concerns this week about the continuation of two of its programs that are accessed by many area residents.
Adult Basic Education (ABE), a program serving adults who cannot read, was on the unallotment list announced by the Governorís office this week. It had previously been on the House of Representatives list of budget cuts.
We ìRî Able, an area program that helps disabled adults access community education, is the other program of concern. We ìRî Able serves about 10,000 people each year in Chisago and Pine counties.
There is fear that other Community Education programs may be cut from the upcoming yearís budget.
Chisago Lakes Community Education Director Robert Meyer, who also serves as the executive director of the state Community Education Association and closely follows decision making at the capitol said, ìThe unallotment process is probably an acceptable way to handle the current year with the exception of ABE which is a cut to a program that is up and running. The bigger concern is how the next biennium budget will affect Community Education.
ìLocal citizens can expect fees to be raised. Fees for people who we want to be in our programs but who are unemployed create a Catch 22 situation. An unemployed person who needs to improve their reading to get a job will not have the funds to pay the fees,î he said.
The unallotment order applied to school districts is essentially asking districts to spend Community Education reserves in order to save the state current year expenses.
While some local districts have reserves these are often used as cash flow accounts to avoid district borrowing. Chris McHugh, Director of the St. Croix River Education District said, ìOn several occasions last year our cash was so low that our fiscal host Rush City had to cover our accounts yet we have reserves at levels recommended by independent auditors.î
The ABE program serves a varied group of local people ranging from people with low literacy skills who need to improve these to find work to new immigrants seeking to fit in with their homeland. In the case of local Hmong citizens many are here because of their support of the United States in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam era.
The We ìRî Able program brings disabled adults into many local community education programs and offers a wide array of programs customized for them. The 10,000 registrations accepted each year are all managed on a budget less than $50,000.
Betty Stoffel, manager of the program said, ìAny of us can become disabled at any time and many of us do as we become older. It is important that disability be seen as ëdifferently abledí and that these folks are not cut off from community life.î
McHugh said, ìMany government programs are really community programs that go to help our neighbors access the American Dream. Adult Basic Education has been in place in our country for 100 years and was previously called an ëAmericanizationí program. Many local families received help during their immigration to this land.
Likewise, Minnesota has the nationís oldest and premier community education program. It is part of who we are in Minnesota and what our values are. Does the current generation really want to back away from their community and become more individually oriented?î
The SCRED board will discuss the implications of the unallotment order as well as the Governorís budget recommendations at its March meeting.

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