Not all adults had the basic privileges growing up that most people tend to blithely take for granted.

Today, as in the past, children’s education often is harmed by unstable family life, poor parenting, alcoholism, or worse. The result is a societal disaster, with adults and their families struggling to make it without essential skills such as reading, writing and math.

The local adult-education department is working to fill that void through an innovative approach using television broadcasting.

Funded by a federal Project of Self Empowerment grant, the Cortez Adult Education office has teamed up with San Juan Basin Technical School broadcast studios to teach the basics through interactive TV classes.

The free courses are held Monday through Thursday, in the morning, afternoon, and evening.

Television is a good learning conduit to reach adults who often do not have the free time, income, child-care services or transportation to regularly attend a GED class or seek a tutor.

"Every household has one (a TV), so this gives folks we are trying to reach a very convenient option to learn," said Ann Miller, Cortez Adult Education director.

Students tune into half-hour lessons from qualified teachers, are assigned homework, and can call in with questions answered on the air. Classes, which began last week, include super-basic math, reading, parenting, writing, and job and career preparation.

"The idea is to get them learning, and then target them for transition into GED classes, technical school or college," Miller said.

Those participating in the class are encouraged to enroll with the adult-education office so that they can receive class materials and be contacted about other schooling and career opportunities in the area. Certificates will be awarded to those who sign up and complete the courses.

Parenting talk shows and storytelling will also air for families. Some classes and parenting forums will be translated into Spanish and will relate to Native American culture and others.

"There are a lot of Hispanic and Native American families here, so it’s important to teach classes that focus on cultural differences," said Kathy Ragland, an adult-ed teacher and Spanish-language translator. "For instance, elders hold a very prominent, influential role in the lives of Latinos, and we use that to reach students."

Providing locals the skills to obtain new and better jobs resulting from economic growth is only fair, adult educators say. And with high-speed fiber-optics on the verge of coming to this region, preparing the work force for jobs in the burgeoning telecommunications and computer industry is critical.

"Even now, we are constantly hearing from employees that a lot of the work force is lacking basic job-performance skills like reliability and basic math," Miller said.

"So when these new jobs come we want to be ready with capable, qualified people who live here to fill them."

The program was made possible by a $1 million grant from the Department of Labor.