California is one of the most diverse states in the country, and continues to do more to advance equity in education.
On August 10, California announced a new program to provide a college fund to every child born in the state on or after July 1, 2022, with additional funds going to economically disadvantaged children.
That’s an estimated 3.4 million families who could benefit from this program and have help sending their children to college.
The program, called CalKIDS, creates college funds which will gain value over time, and eventually be available to families to support their children’s education. It will change lives by putting college in reach.
This is just one of many steps the state of California and governor Gavin Newsom have taken in recent years to make education accessible and equitable. Calbright, which provides free online community college classes to any adult Californian, is another example.
Other new programs include:
- The Local Control Funding Formula, recognized as one of the nation’s most equitable formulas for funding school districts.
- Large investment to scale before-and-after school programming.
- Expansion of the Cal Grant scholarship program, which benefited an additional 100,000 community college students last year.
- Funding to construct affordable student housing
- $115 million to expand zero-cost textbooks and open-educational resources.
That’s why in 2022 California was recognized as the most innovative state for education in the nation.
At Calbright, we do this work because we all believe in education equity. We know that when everyone has access to education and 21st century prosperity, we all benefit.
We could not be prouder of California for making these commitments and living up to the mission of educational equity. As these programs grow, we will all benefit.
