Adult education officials contend that an increase from the current $150, to $1,000 a year for 17- to 21-year-old students would help them graduate more quickly. Program officials also have requested a $350 per pupil increase for students older than 21.
"That's a drop in the bucket compared to what regular students receive," said Maxine Stevenson, director of Beaufort County Adult Education. "The requirements are increasing and, therefore, it's more expensive to operate programs."
Although numbers of 17-21 year-olds in adult education have decreased statewide over the last two years, from 25,295 in 2002-03 to 15,458 in 2003-04, programs are becoming more costly to run, state and local educators have said.
However, too many teens are dropping out and entering adult education programs when they should be re-enrolling or staying in high school to earn their school diplomas, Battery Creek Principal Rodney Jenkins said.
"We have to begin thinking out of the box," he said. "We should have legitimate alternative learning programs in school."
Beaufort County is seeing steady numbers of dropouts seeking high school diplomas and General Education Development certificates, or GEDs, through the county's adult education programs, state and county adult education officials said.
Beaufort County had about 80 high school dropouts each year from the 1999-2000 to 2000-03 school years, with the exception of about 150 dropouts in the 2000-01 school year -- a rate that has decreased from 1.7 percent of its 4,600 high school enrollment in 1999-2000, to 1.6 percent of its 4,900 enrollment in 2002-03.
About 1,000 students, almost half of whom are ages 16 to 24, have been enrolled in the high school diploma, GED and literacy adult education programs in Beaufort County in the last three years, according to Beaufort County Adult Education reports. Last school year 139 adult education students in Beaufort County were 16 to 18 years old.
The Beaufort County Board of Education must approve all applications for adult education from students under 19.
Gov. Mark Sanford, in his budget proposal for 2005-06 released earlier this month, recommends holding the current adult education budget at $23.2 million.
Educators say it's not enough.
"Money is always tight," said Cherry Daniel, the Education Department's director of adult education.
The state's Adult and Community Education program can't afford to hire highly qualified full-time teachers at competitive salaries and often rely on part-time teachers with little training in working with students at risk of failing, Daniel said.
The $850 per pupil increase state educators are hoping to receive will allow local educators to solve that problem, she said.
State Rep. Catherine Ceips, R-Beaufort, said that if the legislative budget committee can find a way to increase the budget for adult education, she would support it.
"I am supportive of adult education," she said.
However, while everyone is vying for a piece of a tight state budget, supporting important programs often means taking money away from others, Ceips said.
School board member Rick Caporale supports an increase in adult education funding, but the long-term effects of credit recovery programs would reduce students' reliance on adult education.
"I'd prefer to see the kids stay in school, but I feel adult education is underfunded and not given the attention it deserves," Caporale said.
Students should be funded at the same level whether they are in traditional school or adult education, he said.
Should lawmakers decline to make any increase in adult education and the school district find resources in its budget, Caporale said he would support increasing school district money for adult education in Beaufort County.
School districts are not required to support adult education programs but most do, said David Stout, the state's GED administrator at the Department of Education.
Establishing more extensive credit recovery programs in high schools essentially will eliminate a historical trend of students enrolling in adult education that have only missed one or two classes toward graduation, local school officials said.
Credit recovery programs allow students to stay in school and take intensive, self-paced classes to make up lost or failed credits.
"We're catching most of them and keeping them in school," Hawk said.
However, credit recovery is not for every student. Students who have fallen behind their class before their senior year and those who have several classes to make up may be better suited for adult education, he said.
"Credit recovery is not practical for students who come back (to school) after several months and try to finish 10 credits, but it's a different story if it's for two credits," Hawk said.
Beaufort High has been implementing, subject by subject, a credit recovery program that will be fully operational next month.
Almost 40 students are enrolled in credit recovery courses so far this year, said Vice Principal Walter Hawk.
Even students at Battery Creek High School are applying for Beaufort High's credit recovery program, Hawk said.
Last year, 38 graduates who took a math recovery course, one of which came from Battery Creek High, would not have graduated if they had not gone through the program, said Principal Dan Durbin.
Students at Battery Creek High School drop out or enter adult education for a number of reasons, including a lack of interest in school, missing credits toward graduation, illness, pregnancy and behavior problems, said Jenkins.
Some students simply need alternative types of learning that better matches their needs, he said.
Students who would otherwise have dropped out or gone to adult education should be able to come to school four hours a day to work on core subjects, have access to online courses, and get work experience through workforce transition classes, he said.
While Battery Creek High develops its own credit recovery program, teacher mentors, school counselors and social workers and community leaders are banding together to keep kids in school who are at risk for dropping out or who need a few credits to graduate, Jenkins said.
"We surround them (with counseling) yet kids still have it in their heads to quit," he said. "Maturity plays a big role in a kid's decision."