Education Funding for Our Future

By Neftaly Gonzalez

Growing up in the Central Valley, I had always known of the racial, financial, and education disparities that were prevalent in the public K-12 system I attended. It was during my first year of high school when I started to experience these complex disparities,  I noticed  the lack of educational and financial resources that play an important role in student success.  This struggle is the reality many students face in under-resourced towns across the Central Valley— smaller rural towns are left to be forgotten. Being from a farming low income community, I was always curious about how impactful these systemic barriers would be in my journey to higher education.

It was not until my first year at UC Berkeley in which I realized how rural the Central Valley communities are in comparison to Northern and Southern California, and how it affected inequities in the education system. While administrators of Northern and Southern California were able to guide students into higher education, many kids in my town were not encouraged by the school to seek opportunities beyond the Central Valley’s geographical sphere. Although I’ve had the fortune to understand my first-generation parents' journey into higher education, I did not know how to navigate options for success outside of my farming community circle. Through discussion with my peers, it became obvious that the future of our education was in our hands, as many counselors did not show interest in supporting students to obtain an education beyond the boundaries of the Central Valley. With no adult support, many students are left to navigate their career path with no additional academic resources. Looking back on my public high school experience, I wish there were more programs that aimed to educate students of post-high school opportunities far from home.