The Santa Barbara County Taxpayers Association appreciates the focus of the 2012-13 Strategic Plan on technical and career education, and technology. Certainly increasing students’ readiness and ability to work and to find and choose careers are vital to the future economic well-being of Santa Barbara County, California and the nation.
To this end, we support the suggestion made by a member of the public for a joint meeting among the boards of education of the Santa Barbara Unified School District, the Carpinteria Unified School District and the Board of Trustees of Santa Barbara City College.
The recent Student Success Task Force of the California Community Colleges system recommends greater alignment between K-12 school districts and their community college districts to create a seamless transition from high school to community college. This would enhance the effectiveness of both career and four-year college pathways in community college. The goal should be to increase the success rates of local students. This is particularly important because so many local students attend Santa Barbara City College.
The Santa Barbara County Taxpayers Association currently has several members who serve on committees in the Santa Barbara Unified School District and the Santa Barbara Community College District, so we are especially interested in seeing greater cooperation among these agencies.
Joe Armendariz, executive director
Santa Barbara County Taxpayers Association