As written in EdSource by Jacqui Irwin and Chancellor Eloy Ortiz Oakley.

It’s all about accurately measuring college readiness — and annihilating the achievement gap in the process.

For far too long, community colleges have relied on often inaccurate assessment tests that each year cause more than a million students nationwide to begin their postsecondary education in remedial courses they may not need. In California alone, more than 170,000 students are placed in remedial, or basic skills, math courses — with more than 110,000 never completing the math required to earn a degree. Even worse, data show students of color are more likely than white students to be sent to multiple remedial courses that do not count toward their college degree. What’s more, each remedial course increases the chances of a student throwing his or her arms up and dropping out.

By Mike Harris, Ventura County Star

More than three years after a deadly train vs. vehicle crash in Oxnard, nearly $70 million in funding for a long-planned bridge that officials say would have prevented the collision looks like it's finally materializing. 

The California Transportation Commission's staff is recommending the commission's board approve the funds from a new source: state Senate Bill 1, last year's Road Repair and Accountability Act. The legislation is funded by increased gas taxes and new vehicle license fees.

By Becca Whitnall for the Thousand Oaks Acorn

A bill making its way through the state Legislature could restore redevelopment agencies in the name of addressing California’s housing crisis.

Assembly Bill 3037, dubbed the Redevelopment Law of 2018 and backed by local Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin (D-Camarillo), would reestablish the city-controlled agencies with new restrictions to prevent the graft and abuse that helped hasten their demise.

By Sonia Fernandez in The UCSB Current

California Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin tours UCSB’s Wilcox New Innovation Incubator and other facilities funded by AB 2664.

Long recognized as fertile ground for entrepreneurship and innovation, UC Santa Barbara now has a space dedicated to the sharing of ideas and resources to cultivate the next generation of tech startups.

Wilcox New Innovation Incubator, located on the ground floor of UCSB’s Mosher Alumni House, is the result of a collaboration between the campus’s Technology Management Program (TMP) and Alumni Affairs. It was funded in part by Assembly Bill 2664, University of California: Innovation and Entrepreneurial Expansion.

Thousand Oaks Acorn Staff Report

Two well-known community members were honored this week with recognition from their state legislators.

Greater Conejo Valley Chamber of Commerce CEO Jill Lederer and Conejo Valley school board trustee Betsy Connolly—both Thousand Oaks residents—have each been named Woman of the Year.

Lederer, a longtime business leader, was bestowed the honor by Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin for her District 44. Lederer and Irwin have a long history dating back to Irwin’s time on the Thousand Oaks City Council.

By Tyler Hersko in The Ventura County Star

Assemblywoman Jacqui Irwin has honored longtime Ventura County business leader Jill Lederer as Irwin’s 2018 Assembly District 44 Woman of the Year.

The annual “Woman of the Year” celebration was held at the state Capitol in Sacramento as part of Women’s History Month on Monday.

Lederer, CEO of the Greater Conejo Valley Chamber of Commerce, is a longtime member of Ventura County’s business community. Her chamber has received a five-star accreditation rating from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce during Lederer’s tenure, one of only six chambers in California to earn this ranking.