Andrew Vaccarezza
Professor Latino
Government 150
21 December 2006
Alternatives for California
During California’s recent history the general public opinion of how California stands is not favorable to our image as the world’s great political and social laboratory. Lately, California has been struggling with many budget issues as well as policy issues. Some of these issues include California’s prison system, educational plans with budgeting and overall reform, and many other issues. These issues are at the fore front of California’s to do list. Our past governors have tried to make the situation travel down the right path, while we have yet to see any noticeable improvement. New important alternatives are coming to our attention as California is in a loosing battle with education and its prison system.
Education has always been one of California’s most important issues in past years. Holding one of the highest standards of education nation wide in the past, California has fallen to the back of the line when it comes to education. It seems to be expected when this is the largest sector of our budget; if our budget is in trouble then it would not surprise most to say the largest sector of our budget is in trouble. In Peter Schrag’s book, California: America’s High-Stakes Experiment, he addresses the use of our Community Colleges in terms of forcing “qualified students, including some of California’s best and brightest, to the state’s community colleges for their first two years.” This is a good idea in terms of seeing who is dedicated to a higher education. From personal experience in going to a community college before even thinking of transferring to a four year university, I believe this is a good idea for using state funds to see wh ...