This news is just outrageous! Now immigrant adults are getting a free public school education at the expense of the taxpayer. I wonder how many of these are illegal aliens. But of course there will be no data on that. I am going to do some more research into this issue. This article is the first I've heard about my tax dollars being spent to educate adults. I know I did not vote to allow this to happen.

Posted on Mon, Sep. 26, 2005
`I take life more seriously' By Larry Slonaker Mercury News

700 OLDER STUDENTS EDUCATED AT TWO SAN JOSE CHARTER SCHOOLS

San Juana Moreno is 44. She's also a student at a San Jose charter high school.
Some people think she is too old to be receiving a free, publicly funded education -- especially at a time when school districts throughout California are complaining they don't have the money to educate even the traditional range of students.
But she says her age actually enhances her learning. ``I take life more seriously than younger people,'' said Moreno, who attends Escuela Popular charter school.
Moreno is one of almost 700 students over the age of 19 attending two San Jose charter schools. Statewide, the number of older students in charters has grown to an astonishing number -- nearly 10,000 over the age of 29. The age of some of these students -- late 20s, 30s, even their 40s -- has aroused concerns that the charters are bringing in students and state money far beyond their intended scope.
``We just don't think it's a correct appropriation'' of school funds, said Adonai Mack, a charter school specialist with the California Department of Education.
Charter schools, first authorized in California in the early 1990s, were designed to create schools that have greater flexibility and fewer regulations than traditional schools. For every high school student, a charter school usually receives about $5,500 from the state.
Almost all of California's traditional high schools take students only up to age 18 or 19. Assemblywoman Lois Wolk, D-Vacaville, introduced a bill this summer putting added accountability on charter schools, including a CDE request to cap student ages at 29.
But the question arose of whether even that age is too high. The age-cap language was removed from the bill to give interested parties time to resolve that question, and the issue is expected to be reintroduced next year.
``It was never really the intent'' of the charter program to serve students that old, said Lisa Ramer of Wolk's office. ``To use our scarce K-12 resources'' for adults is ``not a good use of funds.''
But charter school advocates argue the funds are well-spent. ``They're doing great work in dropout recovery,'' said Gary Larson of the California Charter Schools Association. ``A lot of these programs have the potential of catching those students and getting them back on track.''
The San Jose Conservation Corps charter, which has about 120 students over 19, combines an academic program with vocational training. If the students can become working members of society, says school chief Robert Hennessy, everyone benefits. ``The bigger cost would be if these kids go to prison. That would cost the taxpayers a lot more.''
He complains proposals like the age cap take away charters' ability to innovate. ``Let charter schools be charter schools,'' he said. ``That's why we were created.''
Like Hennessy's school, Escuela Popular is heavily Latino. The school has two programs, one for students under age 19, one for those over. About 98 percent of the over-19 students are still learning English, said Executive Director Patricia Reguerin. ``We have students who otherwise just would not attend school.''
She discounts the alternatives. Community colleges, she says, are ``very expensive,'' and adult learning centers have long waiting lists.
Escuela Popular also operates an elementary school charter, and many of its adult students have children on the elementary school campus.
``Escuela Popular is a family learning center,'' where parents who are students become role models for their children, Reguerin said.
The high school offers morning and evening sessions, and students are expected to attend at least six periods a day. Classes are conducted in cramped quarters at the Center for Training and Career building in East San Jose.
Last week, Susana Luna sat in a stuffy upstairs room for her class on U.S. history. The subject of the day was the French and Indian War of the mid-1700s. On the board were vocabulary words such as ally, cede, militia and revolution. Luna, 34, eagerly volunteered to answer a question on why both France and England were so interested in controlling the Ohio River Valley in that era.
Outside of class, she expressed her interest in learning to speak English better. She has four children in school. ``They asked me questions about their homework, and every day I would say, `I don't know.' '' Now, because her 15-year-old daughter takes some of the same classes at her own school, ``We do our homework together.''
The school's graduation requirements are the same as any East Side Union high school. The district chartered both Escuela Popular and the Conservation Corps.
The latter school graduated 63 students last year. Escuela Popular did not fare as well, with 13 students graduating.
``It's difficult for some to continue'' in school because of child-care and work issues, Reguerin said.
The school's reporting of data, on issues such as test scores and number of qualified teachers, has surfaced as a problem with the administration at East Side. The district sent a letter to the state earlier this year noting some data collection has been insufficient. East Side then worked with the school to set up a series of benchmarks for data collection, said board president J. Manuel Herrera.
``They're progressing,'' he said.
Even Herrera was surprised to hear the school has taken in so many older students. The students, however, seem to take their role completely in stride. ``You're never too old to learn,'' Luna said.