What To Do About Education?
Put it at the top of the priority list, to start
Ask virtually anyone in the business community what Gov. Jerry Brown’s administration must do to repair our state’s broken economy, and over and again the answer is the same: improve education.
Working lunch with Brice Harris
More than 40 years ago, Brice Harris entered education leadership and vowed never to use money — or lack thereof — as an excuse for the performance of the higher-learning institutions he served. However, he now insists the California Community Colleges System cannot adequately serve the student population without more state funding.
President’s Circle
Sacramento State's Alex Gonzalez
Sacramento State President Alexander Gonzalez’s tenure has been one of the most tumultuous in the university’s history.
Back in Session
Academy-style learning targets at-risk students
The shade of the warehouse does little to quell the triple-digit heat. Still, Thomas Nesbit, 21, and Jared Smedly, 22, volunteer their afternoon to construct a picnic table from scratch.
Higher Learning
Executives head to the classroom
In an economy where company officials are making hard financial decisions, spending thousands of dollars on training might seem like an unnecessary expense.
Nursing Needs
Can local health care providers find a solution to worker shortages?
California will need close to a million new medical assistants, lab techs, respiratory therapists and other skilled health workers in the next 20 years in addition to new doctors and nurses, a recent study estimates. But the state doesn’t have enough educational capacity to train them all.
Expanding the Middle
With California’s unemployment statistics among the worst in the nation, there’s no hotter topic right now than jobs: how to keep, expand and create them. Increasingly, policymakers are focused on so-called “middle-skill jobs.”
Of Zip Codes and Schools
Mayor Kevin Johnson cited a statistic in his January state of the city speech that surprised, even shocked, me: In only one of Sacramento’s 19 zip codes are 70 percent or more of third-graders reading at grade level.
Youth Song of Stockton
Stockton Symphony's sellout concerts — and program cuts
Financial donations to the 83-year-old Stockton Symphony are down sharply, yet shows are selling out.
Scholarly Love
Finding funding for college in today's economy
Ira Heinzen knew he wanted to attend college but didn’t know how he would pay for it. Since his childhood, Heinzen was encouraged in education. Always a strong student, the Stockton native was focused in school and active in sports, music and the community.