Stockton, California

The San Joaquin Valley has the lowest educational attainment in California, with about one-third of the student population dropping out of school before attaining a high school diploma.
Literacy rates fall, and teaching people to read becomes more difficult if they leave school. Education costs skyrocket while funds are increasingly scarce.
And as the economy worsens and there are fewer jobs, adults go back to school to sharpen their skill-sets, further impacting facilities and personnel at area community and four-year colleges.

The challenge is to increase graduation rates through college, engage and mobilize parental involvement and build stronger links between the community and a Pacific education.
The forum on education will include community representatives from all the area K-12 school districts serving the city: Stockton, Lodi, Lincoln and Manteca; Stockton A+; San Joaquin Delta Community College; San Joaquin County Office of Education; Stockton area parochial schools; Aspire schools; and Schools of the San Joaquin Catholic Diocese.

Gladys L. Benerd School of Education Dean Lynn Beck will co-chair the forum steering committee along with a community member. She will be joined on the committee by representatives from the university's office of Enrollment Management, the Jacoby Center for Public Service and Civic Leadership, McGeorge School of Law, the Career Resource Center and the Community Involvement Program.

Those who would like to submit ideas or questions about any of the issues being discussed during the Beyond Our Gates series can do so by sending an e-mail of 2,500 words or less to beyondourgates@pacific.edu.