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A College Education in Prison Opens Unexpected Path to Freedom
A big part of the California Dream is the promise of a good education and access to Californiaâs universities and colleges. For people whoâve spent decades behind bars, that dream has been hard to reach. Many community colleges now offer classes inside California prisons, but Cal State LA offers more: incarcerated students can work toward a B.A. degree, and they receive critical support when they get out. KQEDâs Vanessa Rancaño tells us about a burgeoning âprison-to-schoolâ pipeline. TT: 3:58
How Does Proposition 13 Impact the California Dream?
Picture two identical houses: same number of bedrooms, same number of bathrooms, right next to each other on the same block. In most states, homeowners in those houses would pay similar property taxes. But in California, identical homes can have wildly different tax bills. Thatâs because of Proposition 13, which marked its 40th anniversary last year. People here pay property taxes based on the purchase price of their home rather than what that home is worth today. Last year, we spent a few months reporting on how Prop 13 has affected one block in one neighborhood in North Oakland. We brought some of those neighbors together, and today, weâre revisiting an excerpt from that conversation. TRT: 7:00
Letter to My California Dreamer: Planting Roots in the Valley of Heartâs Delight
We’ve been asking you to send a letter to your family’s original Californian: the person who first came to the Golden State with a dream. This weekâs letter actually comes from The California Report Magazineâs producer, Suzie Racho, to her father, Calixto. TT: 3:56
Mark Arax: Chasing the Water and Dust Behind the California Dream
In his book, âThe Dreamt Land: Chasing Water and Dust Across California,â Mark Arax digs into Golden State history to explore how the quest to find and convey water has been essential to the California Dream: from the time of the Spanish settlers, to early “rainmakers” who promised to conquer the weather. Arax also looks at the modern wars over corporate farming. Today we dig into our archives to bring you host Sasha Khokhaâs conversation with Arax, which first aired when his book came out this Spring. Arax is a former LA Times correspondent based in Fresno.
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