California Plan for Career Education Prioritizes High School and College Pathways

This week Governor Gavin Newsom released California’s Master Plan for Career Education, in a strong statement of strategy and priorities backed by state investments including the $470 million Golden State Pathways Program now going into effect across hundreds of school communities in our state.

The plan affirms the work we’re doing as a Linked Learning field, calling decision makers to strengthen career pathways, emphasize hands-on learning and life skills, advance access and affordability, and come together to help all Californians navigate toward family-sustaining jobs. It also takes clear-eyed aim at the inequities in opportunity and economic mobility that hold us back, and points to solutions—including Linked Learning—that propel us forward.

Doubtless the members of our community will find much of interest throughout the plan, but I’d like to call your attention to Point 4 of the Governor’s Shared Vision for Action: Develop Career Pathways for High School and College Students. This section features Linked Learning and our colleagues at Long Beach Unified School District for their success in building stackable, work-relevant credentials. It also spells out recommended actions that align tightly with the Linked Learning approach, our on-the-ground reality in schools, and results we’ve been able to demonstrate through third-party research.

We applaud the Governor’s Office for keeping attention focused and aligned on priorities that matter to adolescents and everyone across our state—and our imperative to meet these needs comprehensively and coherently.

We also applaud you and everything you bring to this purpose.

I encourage you to give the report a read to inspire and inform our next steps together.