August 14, 2020

Students and parents in California’s Central Valley faced enormous challenges even before Covid-19 tore through the region.  Only one in four young people in the Central Valley has an associate or bachelor’s degree, and the proportion is even lower for low-income youth.

To discuss the multiple challenges facing the Central Valley, we interview Don Shalvey, the veteran California educator who now heads San Joaquin A+, about a new poll of parents and plans to help more students get a college education.

Plus Brian Biedermann, interim superintendent of Stockton Unified, one of the first districts to open in California for the new school year. They have just completed the second week of classes and Biedermann tells us how distance learning is going, and how teachers and students are coping.

For background to this podcast, check out the following: