<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=windows-1252"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div><br></div><div><div><div><br></div><div>A group of locals met Thursday to talk about junior college for the Coast.</div><div><br></div><div>We are collectively doing research and background to share with each other and our community with the ultimate goal of having a fully functional junior college for the North Coast</div><div><br></div><br><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri; "><div style="font-size: small; display: inline; "><div dir="ltr"><div style="font-size: 12pt; "><div style="font-size: small; display: inline; "><div dir="ltr"><div style="font-size: 12pt; "><div><br></div><div> </div><div><font><span style="line-height: 13pt; ">The property of 1211 Del Mar Drive is owned by “Redwoods Community College District” – which is identified as a “<strong>publicly controlled</strong> AA - Associate's Colleges organization.” The <a href="http://cccvision2020.org/RECOMMENDATIONS/LeadershipandAccountability.aspx">REPORT OF THE COMMISSION ON THE FUTURE</a> of the <a href="http://www.ccleague.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=1">Community College League of California</a> looks like an excellent resource for leadership and accountability information. “The mission of the California Community Colleges Board of Governors and the Chancellor's Office is to empower the community colleges through leadership, advocacy and support” and their vision includes <font face="Times New Roman">“</font><font face="Calibri">guidance to provide access to lifelong learning for all citizens”– so perhaps contact the <a href="http://californiacommunitycolleges.cccco.edu/ChancellorsOffice/ConsultationCouncil.aspx">Consultation Council of the Chancellors Office</a> for some of that support and to exercise some of that public authority. </font>City, county, and state governments are to be held accountable as well and some discussion to this can be found in the attached report from the Legislative Analyst’s Office, “Restructuring California’s Adult Education System.”</span></font></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div><br></div><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri; "><div style="font-size: small; display: inline; "><div dir="ltr"><div style="font-size: 12pt; "><div style="font-size: small; display: inline; "><div dir="ltr"><div style="font-size: 12pt; "><br><div><font><span style="line-height: 13pt; "><span style="line-height: 13pt; "></span></span></font><font><span style="line-height: 13pt; ">The battle to save San Francisco Community College has been lost and they are being stripped of their accreditation. The SFCC district is the largest public school system in California with 85,000 students and 1,650 faculty and an annual operating budget of $200 million, and they had never before been sanctioned. Under the impact of cuts in state funding, last year it had a deficit of $6 million.</span></font> CR, as well as all Community Colleges in California, have been targeted to fail. They are being strategically dismantled and this is one of the reasons to be working towards independence from government support. The other reason is that in the not-so-distant future there will be no funding to request due to economic collapse.</div><div> </div><div>Below is the brochure for this company, <a href="http://www.21stcenturyschools.com/about.htm">21st Century Schools</a>, based in Texas that <font>specializes in professional staff development and curriculum design and their primary goal is to assist educators in creating schools and classrooms that are truly 21st century (I have also attached the brochure.) They <span style="line-height: 13pt; ">also provide assistance in school district reform – from a district needs assessment to strategic planning, leadership for change, and curriculum design. They<span style="line-height: 13pt; "> encourage project-based learning, integration of disciplines, </span><span style="line-height: 13pt; ">smaller learning communities and a commitment to a “green” curriculum and sustainable schools. This is the kind of education that a responsible, progressive and proactive community owes not only its students coming out of high school, but to everyone in the community. Any form of action is going to require time and it should not provide anything less than the best in education...and to access it, our community has the same right as any other.</span></span></font></div><div><font><span style="line-height: 13pt; "><span style="line-height: 13pt; "></span></span></font> </div><div>Finally, attached are a number of documents pertinent to our discussions and included some links above that I hope will be useful. The 2013-14 Budget Presentation is chock-full of interesting facts. </div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></body></html>