Photo by Stephen Hosmer
Santa Cruz offers some of the best education in the United States. The Pacific Collegiate School is annually ranked in the top ten middle schools nationwide. The University of California at Santa Cruz generates some of the most cited and valuable research in the world contributing extensively to marine & earth sciences, genetics, physics, material sciences, and astronomy. Yet, Santa Cruz faces many challenges in extending education to all members of our community and upgrading our school infrastructure to support the changing face of learning in the digital age.
Gigabit broadband would greatly enable the ability of local schools to grow with the times. Lessons and materials are routinely posted online, many students use mobile devices & laptops in class to support their learning, more and more connected teaching interfaces like smart boards are being integrated in the classroom, and socialization now happens almost as much in virtual networks as it does on campus. Wikipedia and the web are rapidly replacing textbooks and whiteboards. Students are not only educated in the standard subjects but also indirectly in learning to use digital tools to understand the world and prepare for the future.
All communities rely deeply on education. The benefits of good schooling bring strong families, effective support networks, and engaged civic problem solving and economic innovation. When schools fall behind in funding and lack the ability to grow their infrastructures to meet the evolving demands of their students, teachers lose work, students lose hope, and the community suffers the side-effects of a population unable to grow and contribute effectively to the labor marketplace. As a highly-talented resource pool for Silicon Valley and San Francisco, supporting the educational future of Santa Cruz directly supports the global information economy.
Chris Arkenberg is a technologist, forecaster, and strategist. He currently sits on the advisory board for 
