Forgotten Youth of California
When most folks think of California, Los Angeles and the Bay Area come to mind, not the small rural communities that span across the state. Ranging from the Redwoods in the North Coast to the farmlands of the North State to Lake Tahoe, these communities in Northern California are often overlooked and out of sight in the public policy making process. This disenfranchisement is especially felt amongst our youth.
I’m a high school student at Ukiah High School in rural Mendocino County, a county with only 91,000 residents spread across 3,800 square miles. Like many other rural youth, I feel as if my voice as a rural student doesn’t carry the same weight compared to my urban counterparts. This reflects a broader trend where politically, rural issues are overshadowed by more prominent urban concerns. Rural areas face unique challenges, from inadequate school funding to limited broadband access.
I recently founded the Northern California Youth Policy Coalition (NCYPC), a youth-led advocacy group dedicated to championing the needs of rural youth in our region. Through conversations with high school students from over thirty counties across Northern California, we have found the strong need for an organized voice advocating for our generation. Let’s examine two pressing issues facing our youth: broadband access and funding for rural schools.
The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of broadband to students across the nation, especially for rural students. There are an estimated 3.5 million Californians, many in rural communities, who lack access to affordable, accessible broadband. The everyday lives of our youth are online, whether it's doing research for school projects, communicating with friends and teachers, or applying for colleges and scholarships. In today's digital age, being connected isn't just a luxury – it's a necessity.
Living in a rural community means living in a close knit-community where you know most of your community. It also means innermitten or limited access to the internet. Jaime Green, the Superintendent of Schools for the Trinity Alps Unified School District said, “some students had to come to the high school at 7 or 8 o’clock at night to do homework because if you go 10 minutes outside of town, you lose access to the internet.” Access to broadband for students means opportunities for their future, through distance learning, connecting with peers and teachers, career planning, college applications, and more.
The second issue that rural communities are dealing with is funding for rural schools. We recently returned from Washington DC advocating for over 4,400 rural school districts across the country through the Secure Rural Schools (SRS) Reauthorization Act. SRS provides critical funding for educational services in more than 700 rural counties, preventing the closure of remote schools,layoffs of school staff, and programmatic cuts. The disparities in the education of rural and urban schools will be furthered with the loss of SRS funding. Studies have linked long bus times to lowered educational outcomes - so expect lower education outcomes when a school closes its doors and students are forced to double their commute to the second closest school. Staff cuts will worsen student to teacher ratios and exacerbate existing issues with hiring and meeting state reporting and requirements. The importance of funding for rural schools and the direct impact on students should not be understated.
The unique experiences living in rural, urban, and suburban communities should be celebrated, but concerted efforts are needed to address the gaps in opportunities. The Northern California Youth Policy Coalition calls on policymakers to hear these perspectives and to begin to look closer at our rural communities because it’s time for change. It’s time to make sure that the voices of rural youth are heard and given the opportunity to help make the changes necessary for our rural communities and the next generation
