Education and the American Dream

A community workshop on how to increase support for education in California will be held in Camarillo on Saturday, Sept. 10.

Education and the American Dream, organized by the citizen group Ventura Stories and the Social Justice Fund for Ventura County, will bring together education leaders and people from the community who are invited to share ideas and experiences. It will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Ventura County Community Foundation at 4001 Mission Oaks Blvd. A light breakfast and box lunches will be provided.

Speakers will include Charles Weis, former Ventura County superintendent of schools; David Pollock, Moorpark city councilman and former school board member; and Justine Fischer, president of the California PTA.

Themes will include the role of education in supporting prosperity, social mobility and stability, and the decline in financial support for education compared to the state's role as a national leader decades ago. California ranked in the bottom third in K-12 spending per pupil in 2014, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. State spending per student for higher education is less than 50 percent of what it was in 1980, according to the Public Policy Institute of California. The workshop will explore how to improve education funding without increasing taxes on the middle class.

Small group sessions will give attendees a chance to talk about what was formative, helpful or harmful in their own education and to react to the speakers' presentations. There will be a Q and A session and group discussions on how to become engaged in advocacy for education.

To register for the free workshop, visit https://www.eventbrite.com/e/education-and-the-american-dream-tickets-26744080264. For information, email venturastories@gmail.com.