Thanks for another comprehensive article on the Adult Ed situation [“From Free to Fees,” 2/13/10]. Instructor Sally Saenger is correct in her assessment: Transparency, equity, and input are the issues.

It would be professional to include the faculty in any discussion of fees, but at the very least, we should have correct information in order to inform our students. There’s way too much innuendo and rumor floating around and we instructors are at a loss to correct it because we don’t have the info. This whole thing is horrible—promotes suspicion and bad feelings not only among faculty and administration but in the community as well.

I have to admit that I wonder if this is a “pricing out of the market” move such that, when no one can afford to sign up, the program folds. In the area of equity, I feel that all classes should be looked at for possible fee-based status. Once again, the arts take a hit and we fail to feed our souls.— Karen Scott Browdy, art faculty in what used to be one of the best, if not the best, continuing ed programs in the U.S.

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I am a senior citizen and have attended adult education classes for 10 years. My classes are in the field of art. As well as being talented artists, our teachers are dedicated to their profession, encouraging, and supportive.

At the age of 83, I find the classes a psychological and effective support. For those of us senior citizens who still wish to keep our minds active, adult education is better than being alone and feeling sorry for oneselves. It gives meaning to our lives. A lack of aim and loneliness can be morally destroying for the elderly. When the classes go on hiatus I feel desperate.

I realize the State of California is suffering from lack of money but quite a few of us could contribute a little more monetarily than we have done in the past.

Can something be done to save adult education? — Helene M. Boag

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