Letter: Urging support of SB850
Publisher’s note: This letter was sent to Gov. Jerry Brown on Sept. 26 and is reprinted with permission.
Dear Governor Brown:
I am writing to you to urge your signature into law of SB 850 (“The Bill”) by State Senator Block. The Bill as is valuable to our State’s future to increase the education and training of residents of our State.
The Bill also creates an opportunity to allow for the Lake Tahoe Community College (LTCC) to apply to be one of the pilot sites and offer a baccalaureate degree to students in South Lake Tahoe. This latter point is particularly important because of our remote location and distance from other public four-year colleges. The South Shore needs a trained population base to grow a viable and diversified local economy and create opportunity for all segments of our diverse economy.
David Jinkens
This communication is a follow-up to my email communication to your office today in support of SB 850.
In summary, please allow me to offer the following additional reasons you should support this Bill:
• “California needs to produce one million more baccalaureate degrees than the state currently produces to remain economically competitive in the coming decades.” California business and industry need to hire trained Californians first and foremost to reduce unemployment and grow the State and local economy.
• Offering a baccalaureate degree in South Lake Tahoe would complement the excellent work being undertaken by the Lake Tahoe Community College and the renowned preparatory work being conducted by the Lake Tahoe Unified School District.
• Every motivated person should have an opportunity to pursue a baccalaureate degree at a place that is convenient, accessible, and affordable.
• Careers in public safety, technology, and health services now often require baccalaureate degrees even though they may not have required them in the past.
• 63 percent of job openings will require some college education and 33 percent will require a bachelor’s degree.
• Nationally, community college baccalaureate degrees have proven to be cost effective. In a time when student debt is a national concern, low cost, quality degree programs are vital.
• Authorizing community colleges to offer limited, targeted applied baccalaureate degrees will increase access for underserved areas and populations, benefit the State economy, remove barriers to completion, and compensate for the lack of university programs or capacity in certain fields. • Community colleges have a proven record of meeting local workforce demands in applied and technical areas, supporting underrepresented students, and providing affordable, accessible quality instruction.
• 21 states have authorized community colleges to award applied baccalaureate degrees that help meet workforce demand. I urge and encourage you to support SB 850. This is not a partisan bill but rather a good-government measure.
I have no other interest in the matter except to see all who live in our community and State prosper and become productive residents and citizens. Our community’s and the State’s future depend on having an educated and qualified work force. Thank you!
David M. Jinkens
An eloquent letter in support of a needed cause in South Lake Tahoe.
Median income of the local citizens must rise in order to give needed vitality to the community. This is a great step in that direction. Kudos.
We are over educated especially with the flood of foreign STEM graduates. A four year public safety degree. I am about to loose my cookies with that one.
Dave you are so overwhelmed by our local educrats you can’t praise them enough.
I understand professional tiddlywinks will be taught.
Quality over quantity, never.
So there is a flood of foreign STEM graduates, because we are not producing enough of them. This is a bad thing, I agree. And your solution is to back off on educating our own.
Was your major Communications?
I agree with Mr. Jinkens’ recommendation in support of SB850 and would suggest perusing the contents of the following link to become informed about this bill.
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/13-14/bill/sen/sb_0801-0850/sb_850_bill_20140109_introduced.pdf
It’s a never ending con game. If only we had more money our education mess would become heaven on earth.
A high school graduate from Wilber Wright’s time would be more than the equivalent to a 4-year college degree today. Some progress.
I basically believe in education but I think we are getting wool pulled over our eyes in arguing for Measure F.
My fear is based on the fact that the college has built several things that are not even paid for and want to do it again.
Outgoing Board member Mrs Roberta Mason says, we can “simply” partner as an extension service with an existing 4 year college and offer 4 year degrees through that avenue if LTCC fails to be chosen as a test case under SB 850.
If this is so, why are we even thinking about SB850?
Before we vote an expansion at great expense to an existing white elephant, the college should develop some answers as to the “simple” extension proposal, and provide some information on how many of these are running at California community colleges, how long approval takes and how successful they are in increasing student body numbers and therefore upping the number of California citizens being educated.
My fear, obviously is that after 55 to 100 million dollars in new expense, we are just going to wind up with a bigger white elephant?
By their own admission the college has failed to adequately maintain its 25 year old facility.(Brand new in college ages….some are hundreds of years old and still using the buildings by maintaining them).
We are a remote area with poor transportation, the only city is under 25,000 in population and having well known problems keeping student numbers at a breakeven level.
What is there in this new plan that has not been tried before?
Is it “simply” that the large number of administrators are looking for a multi-year extension to their salaries and jobs by stringing a huge unnecessary construction out into the next few years?
I do not necessarily believe “If you build it they will come” is a reliable premise.
If they offered four year degrees, this big change is that is would be attractive to student from all over the state and not just locals. The prospective student pool would be exponentially larger. Legal Beagle, a degree in Public Safety may want you to toss your cookies, but many us are happy to have people actually trained and knowledgeable in the field developing and implementing safety plans for our cities and communities.
How does one determine the college is a white elephant? What is the criteria?
Slapshot, maybe when some of the things Cranky mention, mainly the ability to maintain realitively new buildings. No real plan on how to recruit new students the only plan seems to be “The Field of Dreams” plqn of build it and they shall come. This had better be a huge elephant because at 100 million, lets say it cost $400 per foot to build we will be adding 250 thousand sq ft.
That’s the criteria for a white elephant? Pretty weak. Provide or cite a real analysis thant objectively judges the success or failure of the college otherwise just more cranky opinions.
beagle, when did you get your degree?
thats the problem no real analysis has been done. I realize that white elephant may have insulted you, but a white elephant is something that cant pay for its maintaince cost to an extent that it will outlive its usefulness. Since the college cant maintain its current buildings what is the plan in the future to maintain these buildings as well as the buildings that are being planned. if it is by higher enrollment great than i am behind that. But please show us the plan or an analysis that will show how we will get there.
I got my degree when JC’s were free and UC was 50 bucks a semester and if you had a “B” average you got in. While at UCLA I worked for Willard Libby on his heavy water project.
It was a time when science and education were a lot more honest and forthright. They was far from perfect but so much better than today
legal beagle:
Lucky you for getting a near free college education so you could increase your earning potential throughout your lifetime!
When talking about how much more honest and forthright education was, legal beagle said:
“They was far from perfect but so much better than today”
–or one could say/write–
“They were far from perfect but so much better than today.”
Spouse – 4-mer-usmc
Not an insult at all but people throw out conclusions on this site based on very little fact. Even your white elephant definition offers nothing more than an anecdotal opinion as such it’s hard to factor this in a fair decision.
Clearly, there are a bunch of commenters who share my concerns that funding an apparently failing operation for an additional 55 to 100 million bucks needs some additional explanation beyone what has been published in favor of measure F.
How do they intend to pull off building a sustainable student body to cover the costs.
I have a couple of recent nightmares in the california system:regarding my own child in the current College system
After paying her fees in full and early, she gets an email saying (if you can believe it), that says the board of regents had decided they needed more money and she would not be allowed to attend classes until she had paid an additional $350 and change. This happened two semesters in a row.
We are paying record numbers of administrators record salaries for this kind of crap?
Don’t fall for that here… Vote NO on measure F.
i agree Crancky until it be can shown that there is a good plan to encrease enrollement thereby being able to cover ongoing maintaince costs i will be voting no.