Editor:
As our supervisors develop their five-year economic development strategy and speak of how Humboldt County’s struggles are shared by most of California, let us look at what has happened in California.
California public grade school enrollment has declined for the seventh straight year. The number of students from low-income and homeless families has increased. Middle class families are not able to make a go of it. Increased government costs and reductions in services, coupled with the very high cost of housing, insurance, PG&E, gasoline, food, etc., has people leaving the state.
Most recent enrollment shows 488,000 students in the 12th grade with only 384,000 students in the first grade. This is a 20 percent decrease. This decrease in students is disturbing. It will be a big problem in the future. Young families leave and their children are trained and educated in other states. California does not accept a lot of professional licenses from other states. This places an obstacle in front of young professionals who want to move to California from another state. We struggle to access services now.
With the loss of students and middle class families throughout California; Eureka City Schools enrollment dropping from 8,000 students to 3,600 students over the decades; along with Humboldt County losing 4,000 people over the last three years, can Humboldt County’s economic plan overcome the cold hard truth that the economic development strategy for a lot of young families in California is to leave?
Patrick Cloney, Eureka
This article appears in The Disappearing Registrants.