California Continuation Education Association Document

Title: Memo to Clara Chapala re: The role of Continuation Education in California

Author: Gerry Catanzarite

Date: January 6, 1994

California Continuation Education Association

interoffice Memo

I have given the role of Continuation Education in California a considerable amount of thought over the 21 years that I have been involved in it. I have also done some research on the topic, looking both at the history of the program and at current practices. It is very clear to me that the role of Continuation Education is that of Drop-out Prevention.

This is evident by the way the law is structured for the program. First, we are given a considerable amount of flexibility in the way we work with the student's school schedule and instructional program. This allows the student to continue working toward a diploma while dealing with what ever the problem is that is getting in the way of continuing in the regular school program. Next, we are mandated to provide an intensive guidance component as part of the program. The purpose of this component is educational and occupational counseling. Also, we are mandated to provide a work/study component. This means that we need to work around the student's work schedule so that he/she can be gainfully employed while also continuing to work toward a high school diploma.

I believe that, over the years, the role of Continuation Education became blurred. In the 1960's, the mandatory attendance to age 18 was reenacted. When this happened, continuation education became mandatory for all but the smallest school districts so that there would be a program to accommodate those students who could not or did not want to continue in the regular school program. A repercussion of this was that schools could not just drop undesirable students from school any more, so they used the continuation schools as a safety valve and placed these students there. Although enrollment in continuation is required to be voluntary, unless specific guidelines are followed, many referrals began to be involuntary, voluntary referrals or what I call levered voluntary referrals. Students were kicked out of the regular schools and sent to continuation high school as a punishment without receiving due process, and parents agreed because they did not know that they had any other options. As this continued, many of the true voluntary referral students quit attending because they did not want to associate with the undesirable students who were now attending. Continuation schools became known as the schools for the bad kids. Even so, continuation schools enjoyed success because they worked hard to meet the needs of the students.

Today, the majority of continuation schools, especially in the urban areas, are swamped with undesirable students who are violent, are extremely disruptive, are affiliated with illegal gangs, are bringing weapons to school, are selling drugs, or have committed felonies. This was never the role of the program. The schools are not designed or equipped to deal with these students and do not have much success in helping them. Unfortunately, the presence of these undesirable students on the continuation campuses is causing the students for whom the program was designed to not come to school. One only needs to look at the drop-out rates to see this.

Not understanding this, the state legislature has, in the last few years, enacted several drop-out prevention bills which have tried to correct the problem. These bills basically spent money trying to do what continuation education is designed and ready to do, and is doing to the best of its ability under the circumstances. Continuation Education can not be all things to all people. I say, " let continuation education do what it is designed to do: prevent drop-outs by meeting the needs of the students whose needs are not being met by the regular schools." I also say, "let the court and community schools do their job: provide highly structured programs especially designed for those students who exhibit the undesirable behavior that jeopardizes the safety and education of other students."

I have discussed these ideas with the three past CCEA presidents; Richard Stevens, Fuchsia Ward, and Wayne Crow and we are all in agreement. We are ready to do what ever we need to do to support our programs, just call on us.

CC: Richard Stevens
Fuchsia Ward
Wayne Crow
Joe Stits

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