Posts Tagged: education

A country boy’s odyssey: Nelsen takes over Sacramento State

Robert Nelsen, the new president of California State University, Sacramento. (Photo: Sacramento State)

by JESSICA HICE posted 08.18.2015

As a boy growing up impoverished on a Montana ranch, Robert Nelsen did not expect to go to college. Years later, he is the eighth president of California State University, Sacramento. Nelsen, 63, former president of the University of Texas-Pan American, officially took over as the chief executive officer of the 30,000-student campus in July.

Vocational training key to skilled workforce, economic health

An apprentice engineer uses a milling machine at a training facility. (Photo: Monkey Business Images, via Shutterstock)

by ROGER SPEER posted 07.22.2015

As the uneven economy recovery continues in California, there is one area where jobs remain available: technical workers. Workers with vocational training are currently in demand. The hardest segment of the workforce to replace has been the skilled trades, due to a shortage caused by the exodus of highly-skilled baby boomers that are entering retirement.

John Mockler, one of the most influential voices on California education policy for more than 40 years, died Tuesday of pancreatic cancer. He was 73. The architect of Proposition 98, the 1988 initiative that sets state support for public schools, Mockler also served as executive director of the State Board of Education and Gov. Gray Davis’ cabinet secretary for education.

Common Core: A critical tool to meet workforce challenges

Youngsters in a California classroom. (Photo: Monkey Business Images, via Shutterstock)

by PETE MANZO posted 02.18.2015

OPINION: The health of California’s evolving and global 21st century economy depends on a skilled workforce. Yet, there are too few qualified applicants to create talent pools for jobs that fuel our economic growth. And while STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) jobs in the state are projected to grow 22 percent by 2020, the National Assessment of Educational Progress found that in 2011, 75 percent of California’s 8th graders were not proficient in national math standards.

After long dry spell, new funding looms for adult education

Students at a Murrieta Valley Adult and Community education facility. (Photo: Murrieta Valley Adult School)

by SAMANTHA GALLEGOS posted 01.20.2015

Adult education in California may see its first funding increase in the state budget, following years of school closures and savage cuts stemming from the recession. The Department of Education estimates 100 school districts have closed their adult schools since districts were permitted to use “categorical” money in their budgets.

PPIC: Three out of four likely voters oppose forcing students to pay higher tuition at public colleges and universities, according to the latest survey by the Public Policy Institute of California. But most voters oppose raising taxes to meet the schools’ fiscal needs.

Californians’ reliance on TV for their political news is declining, while an increasing number of people are using the Internet for political coverage, according to a report from the Public Policy Institute of California.

OPINION: Today is National Voter Registration Day and it falls between two historic legislative anniversaries this year and next year that remind us how so many people struggled for the voting rights that too many fail to use now. You can either cast a ballot, or cast a shadow over our democracy by not voting at all this November.

‘Six Californias’ initiative fails to make ballot

A map of California divided into six parts. (Illustration: SixCalifornias.com)

by JOHN HOWARD posted 09.12.2014

A Silicon Valley venture capitalist’s attempt to split California into six states failed to qualify for the statewide ballot, the secretary of state reported Friday. The measure would have carved California into the states of North California, Central California, South California, West California, Silicon Valley and Jefferson.

*UC Berkeley’s handling of rape complaints draws fire

Students walk across the campus at UC Berkeley. (Photo: Melanie Stetson Freeman, Christian Science Monitor, via AP)

by MIA SHAW posted 07.25.2014

UC Berkeley – under federal investigation for its handling of sexual assault complaints and the target of a critical state audit – has a flawed system for dealing with rape allegations and an internal procedure that critics say shields assailants from criminal charges. The school is one of 55 campuses across the country being investigated by the U.S. Department of Education for allegedly mishandling cases of sexual assault.