Ava Thornock grew up in Amador County, an education desert three hours from Santa Cruz that has no local college and limited internet access. She saw firsthand how rural students are cut off from opportunity. She is now a second-year student studying biochemistry at UC Santa Cruz, where academic access reshaped her future and career goals. Here, Thornock details how distance, poverty, staffing shortages and transportation barriers keep many rural students from higher education. With looming state and federal cuts, she argues that California must invest more in rural schools and community colleges so more students can succeed.
Education
Posted inEducation
Pajaro Valley Unified school board approves stay-away letter for trustee Gabe Medina in disorderly meeting
In a contentious meeting marked by repeated disruptions, the Pajaro Valley Unified School District board voted to issue a two-week stay-away letter barring Trustee Gabe Medina from Pajaro Valley High School after he confronted the principal during a student walkout last month.
Posted inLatest News
What’s going on with the Davenport cement plant? Pacific Elementary superintendent has a big idea
Pacific Elementary Superintendent Eric Gross is pitching an ambitious plan to purchase and redevelop the long-shuttered 172-acre Davenport cement plant into a new school campus with workforce housing and public safety facilities, backed by an anonymous local philanthropist willing to fund the acquisition and cleanup.
Posted inEducation
School board to discuss issuing letter barring district trustee Gabe Medina from Pajaro Valley High
Pajaro Valley Unified School District board members will decide at Wednesday night’s meeting whether to restrict fellow trustee Gabe Medina from the Pajaro Valley High School campus after he had an argument with the principal late last month.
Posted inBusiness & Technology
UCSC students develop website to support Seabright small businesses amid Murray Street Bridge overhaul
UC Santa Cruz’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurial Development collaborated with the City of Santa Cruz on a student-built website to serve as a hub for local businesses, events and updates on Murray Street Bridge construction.
Posted inEducation
Pajaro Valley Unified to eliminate assistant principal positions in elementary schools
Pajaro Valley Unified School District administrators are proposing to eliminate 17 assistant principal positions at elementary schools next academic year, a move that has alarmed teachers already reeling from roughly 160 recent layoffs.
Posted inEducation
Watsonville teacher placed on leave after making pro-ICE comment on social media
Lookout spoke with Sarai Jimenez, the teacher who in January posted a pro-ICE comment on social media, prompting a flurry of angry posts on Watsonville internet groups. Pajaro Valley Unified administrators declined to comment, but parents at the school where she taught until last month say they’re shocked and unsettled.
Posted inEducation
Maestra de Watsonville puesta en licencia tras hacer comentario pro-ICE en redes sociales
Lookout habló con Sarai Jimenez, la maestra que en enero publicó un comentario pro-ICE en redes sociales, lo que provocó una oleada de publicaciones airadas en grupos de internet de Watsonville. Los administradores del Distrito Escolar Unificado de Pajaro Valley declinaron hacer comentarios, pero padres en la escuela donde enseñó hasta el mes pasado dicen que están conmocionados e inquietos.
Posted inEducation
Here’s how Newsom proposes to revamp California’s education department
Gov. Gavin Newsom has put forth his plan to shift responsibility for the California Department of Education from the state superintendent to the governor and state board of ed. Rarely has a proposal to transform a bureaucracy moved so quickly from academia to legislation.
Posted inEducation
California wants colleges to count work experience for credit. How’s it going?
California’s community colleges are now giving college credit for students’ previous work experiences. The state has a goal of rapidly expanding access to these credits, though tracking progress on that goal has been difficult so far.