Meet California’s New State Director of Adult Education: David Stang

In this episode of All Things Adult Ed, Dr. Thoibi Rublaitus sits down with David Stang, California’s new State Director of Adult Education. As he steps into the role following Dr. Carolyn Zachry, David shares his journey in adult education, the experiences that have shaped his leadership, and his vision for the future. Tune in for a timely conversation about opportunities, challenges, and what lies ahead for California adult education.

All Things Adult Ed, the podcast where we explore innovation, leadership, and impact across adult education.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:03

Welcome to All Things Adult Ed, the official podcast of the California Adult Education Administrators Association. I'm your host, Toybi Replyides. This podcast is dedicated to the people, programs, and policies shaping adult education across California and beyond. Whether you are an administrator, teacher, counselor, workforce partner, policymaker, or simply passionate about lifelong learning, we're glad you are here. Today is a particularly exciting episode because we are welcoming someone who many of us have worked alongside for years, but who is now stepping into one of the most important leadership roles in our field. David Stang has recently been appointed education administrator and state director of the California Adult Education Office at the California Department of Education. Many of us know David through his years of service supporting adult schools across California. His experience spans classroom teaching, corrections education, workforce development, rehabilitation services, and nearly 14 years in the adult education office. David follows the remarkable leadership of Dr. Carolyn Zachary, who helped guide California Adult Education through tremendous growth and innovation. Today we'll learn more about David Stang's journey, his leadership philosophy, and his vision for the future of adult education. David, thank you for allowing me to sit here with you and congratulations on your new role in California.

SPEAKER_01 1:48

Oh, thank you, Toiby. I'm happy to be here and honored to be on your on your podcast, and I've been looking forward to it since you asked me.

SPEAKER_00 1:57

So many people know your name, but fewer know your personal story. Tell us about your journey into education and adult education in particular.

SPEAKER_01 2:07

You know, Toybi, I've been thinking a lot about this one, and I, as you can imagine, I think about it quite a bit in general. And I think what I can tell you is, Toybi, I've I've been so fortunate. I have worked in so many different capacities. I grew up in San Jose, Santa Clara, went to had a diverse upbringing, went to schools with a lot of different people and a lot of diversity. And so I was surrounded by diversity growing up and then putting putting my helping to you know make my way through college and and pay for it. I worked a lot of different jobs, a lot of construction jobs. And there I also got to meet a lot of different people. And many of those people are are very similar, I think, to the students that we that we work with. And you know, in in school, in college, I I tended to drift into programs where equity and opportunity and concepts around belonging and marginalized populations, those were a lot of the areas that I seemed to drift towards and to be interested in. And in my experience, you know, growing up and working in a lot of different fields and areas, and then going to a number of different colleges. And then as you alluded to earlier in your intro, having an opportunity to work overseas, and then coming back to Elk Grove Unified and working as a high school English and ESL teacher. I think a lot of my experiences growing up tended to manifest themselves in the areas that I chose to work. And then here I am, you know, at Department of Education. After Elk Grove Unified, I made my way, as you mentioned, to Department of Corrections, which was a really engaging, interesting environment. Department of Rehab after that, and now here. So I attribute being here at Department of Ed and or Department of Ed and Adult Education to all those experiences growing up and being in a diverse environment and really, really gravitating towards people with those kinds of stories that many of our adult ed students have.

SPEAKER_00 4:41

So looking back over your career, what experiences have best prepared you for this leadership role?

SPEAKER_01 4:49

Um You know, uh, I I think uh Toybee for me is the experiences that I've had that have taught me about all the commonalities that we share. We all want to belong to something, to some group. We all want to feel like we are making a commitment or a contribution to something larger than ourselves. We all strive for greater opportunities and choices. And many of the places that I've worked have reinforced those values and those observations that I've made. You know, in corrections, for example, people have many of those opportunities taken away, right? They don't have many of those. Those those are still human beings, and those kinds of experiences really helped inform how I how I work with others and the the values that I have in terms of you know working with others and the programs that I work within.

SPEAKER_00 5:58

So you are succeeding someone who made a tremendous impact on California adult education. What has this transition been like for you?

SPEAKER_01 6:09

Oh wow. Well, we had a very a relatively short period of time for the transition. So if I'm being honest, which I always want to be honest, it I feel like it was a sprint. I still feel like I'm sprinting. But it's it's really engaging work, as you know. The amount of work that comes across my desk now is significantly uh greater than it was when I was working as a consultant in my capacity as a consultant. But having been in the office for a long time, having worked with uh Dr. Zachary, of course, and two other directors prior to Dr. Zachary, 14 years in the adult off in the adult ed office, I've had an opportunity to see a lot of all the things that happened in our office and to be involved in a lot of that work. So I think that was integral in helping me during this transition period.

SPEAKER_00 7:08

Yeah, you bring a lot of experience from having been under different leadership at the state office there. Every leader brings their own style. How would you describe your leadership philosophy and what values will guide your decisions as the state director?

SPEAKER_01 7:26

I love this question, Toy B. So I I've been through a number of different leadership, quote unquote leadership type programs. And and I think, and I've been around a lot of mentors who I consider really good at the leaders. I've coached youth sports for many years. Um I'm also a soccer referee on weekends. So I've had a a good experience to view what leadership means. And and for me, I think number one, having a vision is is super important, right? And for me, part of that vision is the people that I work with. I always say that I want to work with the A team, people who are dedicated to their work and who have a similar type of vision. And so making sure that you're talking to, that you know the people that you work with, that you relate to them, that they have a similar, that you can develop a similar type of mission, I think is really important. And in order to do that, you have to meet people where they are, you have to make time to ask them about their day and get to know them a little bit. But you also have to be very clear in sharing what your vision is, what it is that you want to accomplish, why, how it impacts them, how it impacts the people that you're working for whom you're working on behalf. So I also really uh I really appreciate the idea of building consensus and gathering feedback and perspectives from everybody who's involved in the work. You can't always get consensus, but that's a goal of mine. So I think those are among my three priorities when it comes to my leadership style, articulating a clear vision, ideally making sure the team that you work with has a similar type of vision or something that they value as well, and then also making sure people feel valued when they're contributing their time and effort, you know, towards towards your mission.

SPEAKER_00 9:54

Thank you for sharing your philosophy. So when you think about the adult education program five years from now, what do you hope will be different?

SPEAKER_01 10:10

I hope so. One of the questions, one of the questions on your list, Toybi, was do I have any concerns about future funding? And and then on one level, and I'm I'm gonna connect this to your question about five years from now. On the one hand, I I do have some concerns about funding, future funding, but at the same time, some of those concerns are not within my control, not within our control. And so I really try to work with what is within my control. And so while I have some concerns about funding and whatnot, what's really I feel like is a little bit more within my control and you know what I can have an impact on, hopefully, is how we work together as a state. And so I see tremendous potential in California, huge potential. And as you know, Toybee, California ranks as one of the lowest states in the country in terms of adult literacy. Now that might surprise some people, but it's true. And when you have in California, you know, and I and I'm proud to live in California, but I also see tremendous potential in our adult ed system, tremendous opportunity for growth. And so so how do we do that? Not a few months back, Dr. Zakri asked me to attend a couple meetings on HR1 federal, new HR1 federal requirements. And Toybe, when I went to those first few initial meetings around a pilot that they were talking about, you you are probably familiar with the pilot. I was really excited to see everybody who was at the table, right? So many different agencies and and people that we could that we could work with, that we could collaborate with, right? And so those are the kinds of opportunities I see for our future, not just people who are working around HR1 requirements. I use that as an example, right? But our ability to partner with other state agencies, with other education providers, other service providers, you name it. Our ability to partner with as many people as we can. Toybi, you've worked in Adult Ed for a long time. You know full well the level of partnership and services that adult ed benefit from when we work together with other agencies and service providers in our communities, right? I feel like we've only begun to tap the surface of those opportunities. How we do that is still remains a question. And I'm, you know, I'm really excited about how we connect all the dots. But five years from now, I I sincerely hope we have made a lot of progress in how we partner with other stakeholders, people that we may not have even considered, how we strengthen our relationship with other stakeholders, and how we improve, how we improve is another area of some of our existing partnerships.

SPEAKER_00 13:32

So I hear you say HR1, and I know about it, but for the sake of our audience, there may be some newer adult debt administrators. Can you share briefly what's it about and what we as administrators should look out for it in regards to that?

SPEAKER_01 13:51

So and Twilight, you you may know more than me, but so my understanding of HR requirements are new federal requirements that require potentially our students, right, to fulfill or to demonstrate work or educational and volunteer hours can also be included or represented in how our students demonstrate they are meeting these requirements in order to continue receiving federal benefits, right? So that just on a general level is is what HR, those federal requirements are.

SPEAKER_00 15:54

Yeah, I agree. Our school is a part of the Riverside Pilot Group, and we are looking forward to learning more about other organizations that we could partner with. And the other understanding I have about HR1 is we may end up having a lot more students than we've had just because of these requirements.

SPEAKER_01 16:17

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 16:17

And some of us just have to wrap up our work.

SPEAKER_01 16:20

Yeah, no, you're right. Absolutely. Uh, and and have I had I've had agencies and consortia leaders reach out to ask if we could get some more information. Can we put something together? Could we do some kind of QA? We're working out, we're trying to work out some details about that, but I'm really excited about that opportunity and the possibility that because that to your point, I know many people are a little concerned about just being inundated with students and how we're going to how we're going to be able to work with the possible number of students who may be coming to our programs. But again, I think that speaks to what I talked about earlier in terms of opportunity, right? How do we and Toybee? I'll be the first to tell you, I don't have all the answers, but I'm really excited about the opportunity and look forward to people who want to be part of the conversation and who have ideas and suggestions about how we can, you know, make sure that we're meeting the needs of these students. But going forward, how do we how do we continue to partner with some of these agencies in the interest of our students and our programs?

SPEAKER_00 17:38

Right, right. So we've talked a little bit about opportunities and we are all excited. I'm equally excited as you are to uh have more partnerships and learn about different ways of doing things. What are some challenges that concern you the most?

SPEAKER_01 18:00

Uh frankly. Frankly, I don't have a lot of concerns, Toybe. I I know that there are um some challenges in front of us, possibly related to funding. Like I mentioned earlier, some of those challenges, I I feel cautiously optimistic that those concerns around funding will work themselves out. You know, adult ed has been around a long time, and I think generally speaking, I think majority of people are in favor of adult ed programs and supportive, even in the legislature, both at the state and federal level. So I feel cautiously optimistic about funding in the future. I think there are far more opportunities to work together and far more things that I'm looking forward to. I hope, I hope, you know, sincerely, Toybi, to be a bridge, to be somebody who helps bridge the distance between us and and maybe agencies or other service providers that that we haven't been able to partner with closely in the past. I really want to reach out to them. I really want to develop strong relationships with other agencies, um, both both at the state level and nationally. This work, as you know, is very rewarding work. I think the Adult Ed program has been really resilient and resourceful over for decades. And so I'm really looking forward to strengthening some of those partnerships. I'm excited about the future. And we've we've weathered a lot in the past, a lot, as you know. And I I like challenges, Toybe. I I look forward to them. I feel like I thrive in challenge. So while I'm optimistic about our I'm more than anything, I'm I'm very optimistic about the future and and look forward to realizing or moving closer to the potential that I think we have in adult ed in California.

SPEAKER_00 20:07

Yes. So switching gears a little bit here, let's talk a little bit about policy and funding. Adult education has experienced tremendous growth through Cape, UA and workforce initiatives. How do you see these systems continuing to evolve?

SPEAKER_01 20:27

Um well, I I I think uh, you know, honestly frankly, Toy B, I I'm not aware that there's a whole lot of change with respect to CAPE and WIOA in the near future, you know, monumental change. I hope that one area of concern that that we've talked a lot about at CDE and in the adult education office for a number of years is how the current funding structure impacts smaller programs and some of our some of our nonprofits. And that that, as you know, many of our smaller agencies and some of the nonprofits that we work with really provide some unique services and and opportunities for our students. But many of those types of agencies are are struggling in ways that some of our larger agencies and those with more resources are not. So that that is a challenge that's that's on my radar. And I I hope that resources don't drift towards, continue to drift uh in the hands of larger agencies and those who already have a lot of resources. That is one area that we're focused on because in all parts of the state, we really We want to make sure that programs are receiving adequate funding, stable funding, and again, Toby, this is another area where we look forward to partnering with others throughout the state because we don't have all the answers, but we know that it benefits our state, it benefits communities, it benefits the opportunities that students have when they have access to funds, when they have access to opportunities, not just in certain areas, but all areas throughout the state. So that is something that is on our radar. You know, I think the CAPE and WIOA funding, as I alluded to earlier, or as I mentioned, I feel like they're pretty stable. So I think that is one of the biggest areas that's on our radar in terms of moving forward in those funding structures or systems.

SPEAKER_00 23:02

So would I be uh correct to say that if we need more funds, uh no, we all need more funds. We all feel like inflation and being the president of the CA, I have heard our members always talk about how everything is more expensive, but we did not get the Supercola, we're going now have to shrink our programs. And from what I heard you just say, I get the sense that there is no way to get more funding from Wii One or CAPE, but by partnering with other agencies that might have more funds, we'd be able to support our smaller schools or smaller agencies. So we're we uh and on and on that note, I also noticed that there seems to be some more focus on integrated education and training, career pathways and healthcare partnerships and technology. What innovations do you believe have the greatest potential and how should adult schools balance innovation while remaining true to their vision and their mission?

SPEAKER_01 24:18

Right. So I think it I think integrated education, Toybi, is is has a very bright future for us. I think the career pathways and healthcare partnerships that you that you mentioned are all great innovations and areas that we need to continue to continue to focus on, continue to develop, to continue to strengthen. And in those areas in particular, particularly around workforce and working with our partners in those areas, I'm I'm really excited to continue that work. I've had a number of people from EDD and work California Workforce Development Board reach out to me to talk about different opportunities. And as I mentioned before, I'm still in the process, frankly, of figuring out how to connect those dots. And so, how do we do that? Right? So, in order to do that, we need to get together, we need to talk more. There, there are opportunities for us to connect those dots, and I'm looking forward to doing that. I do, you know, those some of those areas, you know, I hope that we can find ways to strengthen them, to provide more opportunities for the students who are in those programs. But also, Toybee, how do we develop programs similar to these in areas that don't have them? I I don't know yet, but that is something, again, that's on our radar in terms of equity and making sure that all students have these types of opportunities. How do we as a state, how do we as an adult ed system working together with our with our partners and other stakeholders, how do we ensure that those opportunities are out there for all students who are interested in them? And that is something that really continues to motivate me, that's part of my vision. You know, not long ago, this sort of shift towards integrated education and workforce, as you know, was concerning some of us that we were getting away from literacy, right? Literacy is still a very big part of what we do. We we still have to make sure that all our students, that we're meeting the needs of all our students. A functioning democracy requires students to be well informed, to be educated, to be literate, and to be able to participate in the system. That is also a big part of our mission, and I think that that needs to be something that we continue to focus on and make sure we're meeting the needs of all students.

SPEAKER_00 27:20

Thank you for sharing your thoughts on that. What emerging workforce sectors should schools begin preparing for now?

SPEAKER_01 27:30

Well, healthcare is obviously a big one. Technology and AI, like you mentioned, and those, you know, those seem to be real big buzzwords, Toybi. And so a lot of areas, you know, whatever areas in each region or sections of the state that that afford students an opportunity to provide for their families, to earn a good, a good living wage, I think those are the areas that we need to focus on. You know, healthcare partnerships, technology, you know, those that that we've already talked about, those are great opportunities as well. And if students are interested in them and if we can move you know students in that direction, fantastic. But I really think that we just in general need to understand what are the needs of the students in our communities, what are they interested in, and make sure that we provide opportunities for them in those areas.

SPEAKER_00 28:28

Thank you. So staying on this whole topic of innovation, and it's not one of the questions that I sent you, but then I was wondering if you want to share a little bit about how the most recent data and accountability work group brought about some recommendations. And how do you, as the leader of CDE, you know, how CDE and Chancellor's office work together to administer CAPE programming, right? And on that note, do you what's your vision on working together with the California Community College Chancellor's office and bringing about the the idea of working together and growing for both, you know, for all groups, especially adult education adult students. Can you share a little bit on your vision on that?

SPEAKER_01 29:24

Yeah, yeah, I'm glad you asked me that, even though it wasn't on your original list, Toybee. So, yeah, no, honestly, so I'm still getting up to speed on some of the recommendations that the Data and Accountability Work Group has recommended, right? So, unless you have something specific in mind, I don't know that I could answer specifically. Um, I'm still, like I said, kind of getting up to speed on that and beginning to participate in some committee work and meetings that have been scheduled, right? However, truly, Toy B, I I am glad that you brought this up because I think the relationship with the Chancellor's Office and going forward with respect to adult ed, non-credit, and then you know, beyond non-credit, what opportunities our students have and post-secondary, you know, I think it's really important that we find ways to partner with the chancellor's office and to develop stronger collaboration and partnership opportunities with them, right? I've been, and I'm I I know you're aware of too, in my in my capacity as a FPM lead in our office, I was fortunate to see a lot of different programs throughout our state, right? And nationally to see a lot of different or to learn about other programs, right? Where partnering with community college, junior college system in different areas has been really beneficial. So knowing how closely what we do is tied to the Chancellor's Office and how CAPE funding is distributed in California, I want to I want to get away from some of the competition or issues that we've had and figure out how we can strengthen those relationships, right? I hope that we can start by taking small steps. I hope that we can find out and talk more to some of the leaders in certain areas of California where they have strong relationships between the Chancellor's Office and K-12 and learn from them what's working. What how how how did you manage to make your ties stronger in the interest of students? I think in some areas of the state we're doing that better. And ideally, I hope from a leadership standpoint, Toybee, that we can that we can lead in that respect at CDE and the chancellor's office, and that we can strengthen some of those, the partnerships and bonds going forward. But I also want to reach out to places around the around the state and even nationally to find out a little bit more about how they've been successful doing this. I I feel that our relationship with the chancellor's office going forward is is is is vital. And how we lead together is also just as important.

SPEAKER_00 32:36

All right. So on that note, I think it's a good time for me to ask what advice would you give the new adult education administrators?

SPEAKER_01 32:48

We're talking about a local level, Toybi?

SPEAKER_00 32:51

Yes, yes, at the local level. And how can local leaders become stronger partners with the adult education office at CDE?

SPEAKER_01 33:02

Well, as you know, we have a we have a new administrators orientation at the beginning of every year, right? So one thing I recommend to new administrators is make sure you attend that that training, right? I think there are a lot of opportunities to connect with CDE and that capacity to learn about the adult, to learn more about the adult ed system. We encounter administrators who are new, absolutely new, Toy B to adult ed all the time. So the learning curve is very steep for them, right? So to answer your question, I would say definitely attend NAO. If not this year, then next year for sure. I would say reach out to your consultant at CDE to establish a relationship there, and definitely, absolutely work with other adult ed leaders in your consortia to find out what they're doing, find out what is working for them, find out who they're partnering with. It's a steep learning curve, but I think reaching out to your peers and finding out what works for them and not just your peers in adult ed, but the workforce development board, other stakeholders in your region who work with or provide services for adult ed or tangentially, if not directly, I think any way you can reach out to folks in your region who can help benefit our students is a great place to start.

SPEAKER_00 34:53

Yeah, including the consortium leads and the consortium college partners, right?

SPEAKER_01 34:59

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 35:00

All right. Looking ahead, if you could accomplish just three things during your tenure, what would they be? And what legacy would you hope to leave?

SPEAKER_01 35:13

Yeah, you know, Toybi, frankly, I I don't know if legacy is on my mind right now. Maybe maybe it will be. I think I think one of the areas that I mentioned earlier that that really is important to me is figuring out how we can provide equitable services to more students around the state. How do we how can we partner with some of these smaller agencies all around California? How can we support them better? I don't have the exact answer. There are models in California where agencies within individual consortiums are doing really good work together. Um, that might be a good starting place for us, but I'm really interested in learning more about how we can support more agencies to get involved with adult education and providing adult ed services and helping them sustain their programs. That's one area. Another area is, as we talked a little bit earlier about integrated education and training, career pathways, how do we continue to develop and scale these programs to size in potential in California? How do we continue to work with our partners in these areas? That's another area that I think is really important. And then lastly, and and we've just touched on this, is how do we continue to strengthen our relationship with the Chancellor's Office and community colleges, right? I I think there is such tremendous opportunity and potential, Toybee, for adult ed in this state, and for us to continue, as you mentioned earlier, to be a national leader. And so in order for us to do that, I think really focusing on how we can strengthen our relationship with the chancellor's office and make sure that we're working side by side and being part of the being part of many of their programs or part of you know learning more about their vision and what they're thinking about in terms of non-credit and adult-led programs going forward, and also making sure that we're reaching out to them to be part of the conversations that we're having about improving and strengthening adult ed going forward.

SPEAKER_00 37:53

Thank you. Thank you for your insight and your sharing willingness to share your vision. And we always end without doing something fun. But today I think we should start this new school year. We're thinking of adding a little bit of fun to our podcast, and so we have a lightning round. We'll just give you two options. You give me us your option coffee or tea. Coffee, early bird or night owl. Early bird, first job ever. Favorite book.

SPEAKER_01 38:47

Uh Miss Candy.

SPEAKER_00 38:49

Nice, Miss Candy, if you're hearing one word that describes adult education.

SPEAKER_01 38:58

Brazil.

SPEAKER_00 38:59

One word that describes California.

SPEAKER_01 39:05

Potential.

SPEAKER_00 39:07

Hidden talent. Best advice you've ever received.

SPEAKER_01 39:18

Make sure that you find balance in your life.

SPEAKER_00 39:22

I love that. Thank you. So for a final question, adult education changes lives every single day. What gives you hope about the future of adult education?

SPEAKER_01 39:34

Boy, that's a great question, Toy. So I think, and this kind of brings us full circle back to what we first started talking about, and what brings me to my what was kind of my journey in getting to adult ed. And as I mentioned earlier, having having had the opportunity to travel around state and and see all the programs, we you know, when you walk into some of our classes and you see the instruction going on and you see the students, I I think our students and their stories and their resilience, I think that right there, everybody who works in adult ed would agree is really a large part of why we do what we do. When our students who work as hard as they do and have endured what they have and continue to work as hard as they do, I mean, it's inspiring, right? I mean, truly, it's it's really motivational. And to be part of a system where people are working on behalf of those students and almost kind of feeding off each other, that's a really that's a really great place to work from day to day.

SPEAKER_00 41:04

That is amazing. It you bring it full circle. Well, we do what we do is for our students, adult store, adult adult student stories. Thank you, David. Thank you for joining us today and for sharing your story, your vision, your heart for adult education. Congratulations again on your appointment as California State Director of Adult Education. We appreciate your years of service and look forward to working alongside you as we continue expanding opportunity for adult learners across the state. To our listeners, thank you for joining us for another episode of All Things Adulted. If you enjoyed today's conversation, please subscribe, share this episode with a colleague, and continue supporting adult education in our communities. Until next time, keep believing in the power of second chances, in the power of lifelong learning, and in incredible work happening every day in adult education. Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 42:07

Thanks, Troy B. I enjoyed being here.