RE: Questions for the day

Hello. My name is Carolina Cardenas and I have been with both the UC and CSU systems for 15 years working in the area of early academic outreach programs.  I have a strong interest in what is happening in our state to our children and the low number of historically excluded populations who are eligible to apply to four year institutions of higher learning.

1) I hope that a CMP for education will provide some guidance for those of us who work in the K-12 sector, no matter what profession.  I also hope that it provides us with fresh, innovative ideas to help us see education from dfferent perspectives.  Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to re-vamp our entire educational system and I think this will allow us to spark those thoughts and maybe a few of them will be taken seriously.

2) I think that there can be some influence of the CMP in the classroom.  In early outreach, the plan will help guide outreach efforts and what university early outreach professionals are doing out in the field. The plan from the 60's made some significant difference in that it discussed access for all and it allowed some programs to focus.  However, I think that people/programs were not being held accountable for what was being done until "problems" started to arise.  I also think that the only way a CMP can work and be aligned in a coordinated way, is to pull all of the "parts" together and have some measures for accountability.  Everyone seems to be working in seperate corners instead of working together to see what are best practices and ensure that there are no duplication of services.

3) I think that accountability can take many forms.  Again, I come from an outreach perspective, but what should happen is that all professions involved with education (teachers, administrators, faculty, early outreach workers, etc.) should come together and set thier accountability standards as they relate to the master plan and evaluate themselves on a regular basis.

4) I think that if the plan is widely distributed and people understand what their role should be within those parameters, the influence can be tremendous.  However, there has to be "buy-in" and that is the most difficult task.  Not everyone is going to agree on what the plan proposes.  Legislators should not be the only ones standing behind the plan, it has to be a larger, diverse community.  This will help with the "buy-in" concept.