Salinas, Fresno, Modesto, Visalia, Bakersfield ranked among least educated cities in the nation (Los Angeles: 2014, high school)

[MtnSurfer]

This recent ranking which showed up in Forbes upset many Monterey County locals. Salinas came in as the second least educated city in the nation. 'Salinas was cast in an unfair light' quite a number declared in our local paper. Surprisingly there were also a good number who agreed with the overall assessment even if the metrics used came under question.

Ranking of Salinas in 'least educated city' list upsets many - MontereyHerald.com :

The original article came from WalletHub which shows their methods for the ranking here: 2014’s Most and Least Educated Cities

On a more positive note California has some the most educated cities based on the criteria used including San Jose, San Francisco and San Diego. Los Angeles fell more in the middle of the pack.

While I don't necessarily agree with the metrics or weighting I still find the results interesting. It's causing some to take another look at our education system within these cities.

Derek

[BeauCharles]

¿Como?

Seriously, in heavily agricultural areas of California its not surprising that most people won't have any sort of post-high school education.

[MtnSurfer]

Originally Posted by BeauCharles

¿Como?

Seriously, in heavily agricultural areas of California its not surprising that most people won't have any sort of post-high school education.

Yes, I agree that part is obvious. However the need for second/third generation migrants to obtain higher education is still an issue for both parents and children in these cities. Some do want their children to move beyond high school and explore other higher paying opportunities. That can be tough for them in these areas within their current school systems - to break away from the norm and lower expectations.

Derek

[BeauCharles]

Yeah, the kids of a lot of those immigrants in Salinas were lucky to take a few vocational classes at Hartnell after graduation (if they graduated).

[mateo45]

In fairness though, it's not just "immigrants", since these areas have never placed a high value on "edu-macation to begin with, going back to the Okies who settled there heavily after the Depression.

Although the OP raises a good point, that unless this state wants to become even more heavily divided both economically and culturally, we're gonna have to do a lot more to keep pace with an increasingly "knowledge-based" economy.

[eccotecc]

The unfortunate truth is the best and brightest that these areas produce have to move away to take advantage of their education and talent.

[Chimérique]

Originally Posted by MtnSurfer

On a more positive note California has some the most educated cities based on the criteria used including San Jose, San Francisco and San Diego. Los Angeles fell more in the middle of the pack.

Sacramento is in the top 17% for the most educated. LA only in the top 52%.

This why it's so annoying when coastal Californians lump in Sacramento with their disdain for the Central Valley.

According to the report, Sacramento is more educated than Pittsburgh, Denver, Nashville, Chicago, Minneapolis, NYC, to name a few..

As Californians, do we care about the Salinas Valley and San Joaquin Valley? I do.

What is the solution to make ALL of California tops in education once again?

[MtnSurfer]

Originally Posted by eccotecc

The unfortunate truth is the best and brightest that these areas produce have to move away to take advantage of their education and talent.

This is true from what I've seen for the most part. One coworker's son, for example, graduated Salinas High with honors. They live in a somewhat higher end 'outskirt' community which all feed into Salinas High. As a STEM student at Hartnell he plans to move on and out, most likely to never return to living/working in the city of Salinas.

For the the parents of these children I think they would be fine with them moving out if that is what it takes for them to advance professionally. In these cases the education system allowed them to move ahead even if they do not return. Of course that doesn't help the local economy grow nor does it get reflected well in survey's like this.

In my friend's case his son would have excelled wherever they lived due to parental involvement, extracurricular activities (e.g. private STEM classes), the parent's own educational/professional levels which were much higher than the area's average, etc... I'm not convinced those same opportunities are there for the more general populous in these communities. That is what needs to be addressed.

Derek

[mateo45]

Originally Posted by Chimérique

What is the solution to make ALL of California tops in education once again?

Good question, although there's really only so much that can be done at the upper state levels if the local community and culture doesn't value education from the start.

But one idea I've always thought useful on both the state and national levels, is to promote and fund some sort of "AmeriCorps" style initiative for spreading broadband and solar tech out into the hinterlands. Our domestic level of broadband access is already lagging behind many other western countries, and offering training for relatively low-tech skills like installers, repairmen, tech support, etc. would help provide a local "installed" base of self-replicating tech knowledge & culture, that also helps lead to other entrepreneurial opportunities, and of course a more diverse rural economy!

NYTimes: U.S. Struggles to Keep Pace in Delivering Broadband Service

[BeauCharles]

Originally Posted by mateo45

In fairness though, it's not just "immigrants", since these areas have never placed a high value on "edu-macation to begin with, going back to the Okies who settled there heavily after the Depression.

That was then, this is now. Its commuting distance from San Jose and many still don't get it. One out of four people in Monterey County are immigrants and 75% of those are from Mexico. Subtract out the 150K who live on the Monterey Peninsula and the percentage is much higher. Mexicans and Mexican-Americans have the lowest educational attainment of any group in the country. I don't think I'm being unfair for pointing out the obvious.

BTW - I'm the kid of an "Okie" (who settle in the San Joaquin) and I have a bachelor's degree - and a good number of the kids and grandkids in the extended family have an associate's, bachelor's, master's. The parents and grandparents who first moved here may have not gone far in their education, but their "youngin's" didn't just sit on their hands.