It is not easy for California students to transfer between community colleges and the California State University and University of California systems and advocates want it fixed.

A recent audit found very low transfer rates for California community college students, especially for students of color. The data show from 2017 through 2019, just 21% of students who intended to transfer to a four-year school did so within four years.

Linda Becker, Bay Area director of regional partnerships for the nonprofit Merit America, said it highlights structural barriers within the education system.

"The high cost in California is a real barrier for people to be able to access education," Becker pointed out. "At the same time, we know that with just a high school degree, you really are excluded from a lot of jobs."

The report called for schools to make sure more of their classes count for transfer to a four-year university, and to expand the Associate Degree for Transfer program. It offers a streamlined transfer pathway to state university campuses. Merit America offers an alternative pathway, with five online programs in the tech field lasting 14 to 23 weeks with intensive career counseling.

Becker pointed out the program is designed for people stuck in low-wage jobs who want to move to a more rewarding career.

"Thousands of people start our program and about 40% have tried some college and not been able to finish," Becker reported. "It's mostly because of financial reasons. They can't take the time away from working to support going to college."

The program is subsidized and learners can get a 0% loan to cover the rest, to a maximum of $5,700. Students do not have to pay the loan back until they get a new job paying at least $40,000 a year.

A new report from The Sycamore Institute reveals the persistent challenge of college affordability in Tennessee. Despite state and federal aid programs, many students still struggle to cover the costs of higher education.

Brian Straessle, executive director of the institute, said maintaining scholarships is a challenge for some students because of academic, service or renewal requirements. He pointed out students often drop out due to housing costs, food insecurity and transportation issues.

"There are also sort of cost of living challenges frequently where housing, obviously across the board, across the country, has gotten a lot more expensive," Straessle observed. "Some of these scholarship programs, they won't pay for living expenses. They will only pay for tuition and fees."

According to the report, Tennessee's postsecondary education costs vary widely by institution type. For the 2023-2024 school year, average costs ranged from more than $21,000 at public two-year colleges to more than $44,000 at private four-year institutions.

Straessle emphasized the availability of state resources and scholarships that students can access to assist with college expenses.

"Some of the biggest ones are like the HOPE scholarship that, if you're going straight from high school to undergrad, that can pay a significant chunk of your costs," Straessle outlined. "Then there's Tennessee Promise, which gets a lot of headlines, which is what they call a last-dollar scholarship."

Straessle stressed the importance of obtaining a college degree significantly affects job opportunities, earnings and overall well-being for Tennesseans.

"For most people, going to college is going to pay off in terms of your lifelong earning potential, your health and well-being being improved over the course of your life," Straessle emphasized. "Just the opportunities that are available to you, having that degree or certificate."

The report cited an estimate in 2021, 59% of "good jobs" in Tennessee, those paying at least $39,400 for ages 25-44 and $50,700 for ages 45-64 required a bachelor's degree, a figure projected to rise to 66% by 2031.

Support for this reporting was provided by Lumina Foundation.


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South Dakota librarians are implementing new policies for young readers in the new year and they are expecting future challenges, with the governor's proposed funding cuts for 2026.

Both school and public libraries across the state are required to roll out new policies Jan. 1 to "restrict the access of obscene materials by minors," online and in print, with a new law passed this year.

Dan Burniston, director of the Vermillion Public Library, said on a South Dakota Humanities Council panel, filters can be challenging, both because coders and programmers can get around them, and useful information can be filtered out.

"Take the word 'breast,' for example. If your filters are turned up high enough, you search for 'chicken breast,' you're looking for recipes; you search for 'breast cancer.' When you aggressively filter, you can filter perfectly legitimate content, too," Burniston outlined.

According to a 1973 U.S. Supreme Court case, something legally "obscene" must meet three criteria: It encourages excessive interest in sex, is patently offensive and "lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value."

Nancy Swenson, technology services librarian and chair of the Intellectual Freedom Committee for the South Dakota Library Association, said librarians select materials systematically, based on reviews, recommendations and community interest.

"Our stuff that we're buying, even if it's something that, personally, you might not be comfortable with, it has artistic, literary, political or scientific value," Swenson contended. "It is not 'obscene.'"

The American Library Association said more than 4,000 unique book titles were targeted for censorship in 2023. Nearly half involved the lived experiences of LGBTQ+ people or people of color.

In her 2026 budget address, Gov. Kristi Noem proposed cutting general and federal funds to the State Library by nearly $2.5 million.

Sarah Jones-Lutter, director of the Redfield Carnegie Library, said the cuts would especially harm small libraries.

"It gets rid of interlibrary loan," Jones-Lutter stressed. "We say, 'With us small libraries, we can't afford all these books, but we can get them for you.' With this budget, that system is gone."

She added the change would also cut funding for shared databases, summer reading programs and more.

Support for this reporting was provided by The Carnegie Corporation of New York.


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Staff members who support schools are calling for greater investment from Washington state.

As next year's legislative session approaches, wages and staffing are among the biggest asks in schools among classified staff - employees other than teachers and administrators.

Melissa Roach is a peer inclusion preschool paraeducator in Tacoma who works with special education students. She said behavioral incidents are increasing across the board in schools.

"We're concerned every day that there could be a serious injury," said Roach, "because there's no staffing to get us the appropriate bodies in the room to help us."

Roach said she's seen the most turnover ever in her time as a paraeducator. She said her colleagues have expressed similar concerns.

Roach is part of the bargaining team for the Tacoma Federation of Education Support Professionals.

Unfortunately for Roach, she said the pay doesn't feel commiserate with the job she's doing - especially as violent behaviors have become worse after the pandemic.

"I love my job," said Roach, "but this is the first year that I've ever thought, you know, maybe this isn't for me anymore, and that's heartbreaking to me."

The average starting pay for education support professionals in Tacoma is about $26 per hour.

Roach said everyone working in schools is looking for more respect from leaders in the state.

"All the things that they're asking for would not happen if it wasn't for the backbone of the system," said Roach, "which is the custodians and the nurses and the paraeducators and all the people who keep things running and clean and healthy behind the scenes."

The 2025 legislative session convenes on January 13.