Sponsored: Rethinking Economic Opportunity as a Public Good

People often think about economic opportunity as an individual circumstance shaping the chances of upward mobility within the family or household. But what if we thought of it as a public good instead?

In modern California, people depend on at least three things to achieve economic stability: education, employment, and digital connectivity. What can California do to ensure these essentials are available to all residents of our state?

In the summer of 2024, the Possibility Lab invited public policy researchers from across California to share their ideas for addressing these questions. Here we present reports from three policy experts: Carrie Hanel (regarding education), Anibel Ferrus-Comello (in relation to employment), and Edward Helderop (for digital connectivity).

According to these researchers, California can generate economic opportunity for all by rethinking how we learn, how we work and how we connect with each other. Everyone has a role in the policy decisions these researchers describe—from students and parents to teachers, workers, government officials, and employers.

Read the full notes on education, employment and digital connectivity

Rethinking the way we learn: Policies for abundance in education

Although California is a place that has incubated groundbreaking innovations in science, technology and medicine, there is a persistent literacy crisis among our state’s youth. with only a third of 8th grade students demonstrating good reading levels in 2024. This status quo is not inevitable, Hanel says, but rather a function of specific (and variable) factors: inequitable funding that disadvantages students, ineffective management that undermines progress, and inflexible requirements that limit teacher talent.

California is a state of abundant wealth and yet California spends less on public education as a share of its economy than many other US states. In his report, Hahnel highlights a set of policy strategies that could more effectively use California’s abundant economic resources and ensure adequate financial flows for students across the state.

While more money for underserved schools could make a significant difference, the total dollar amount is not the end of the story. According to Hanel, it also matters how that money is spent and whether the state’s standards and requirements for providing high-quality education also allow for a variety of learning methods that meet the full range of student needs.

According to Hahnel: To address the root causes of educational underachievement and move beyond a one-size-fits-all approach, California may consider adopting school design innovations such as alternative scheduling, personalized learning, and hands-on work experiences. While every child in California is legal right to free public educationnot every student gets one that helps them realize their full potential.

Rethinking the way we work: Policies for workplace abundance

While education is important in its own right, it is also a means to an end, offering a crucial path to rewarding work and a stable household income.

In her report, Ferrus-Comello argues that to connect people to prosperous careers, California can explore new ways to coordinate investments in education and workforce development, providing diverse learning pathways for people to train in high-demand skills, with or without college.

Ferrus-Comello describes this vision of abundant jobs in terms of the “main road.” Originally created by Joel Rogers“main road” refers to a approach to policy making where the state plays an active role in promoting cooperative labor relations and directing public investment toward entrepreneurship and innovation that serve the common good.

High Road Training Partnerships (HRTP).) are at the center of the high road toolkit. California has already seen this tool put to good use, Ferrus-Comello says. For example, on Education Fund Career Paths offers a model for effective HRTPs where employers and unions come together to develop training programs that prepare people for well-paying jobs and help address labor shortages.

According to Ferus-Comelo, HRTPs can play a larger role in California’s workforce development strategy. Ideally, Ferrus-Comello says, the state would fund and support more HRTPs that are based on a regional framework — like Jobs First Economic Planwhich invests in training programs that are tailored to the industries and labor markets of specific regions across the country.

In this vision, HRTPs exemplify policy strategies that recognize the fundamental role of workers in providing the essential goods and services that Californians depend on, whether it’s growing food, driving buses, or educating students. From this perspective, workforce development is not simply about catalyzing the upward mobility of individuals; it’s about creating an ecosystem of economic opportunity that unfolds to benefit us all.

But successful implementation of the high road toolkit is based on workers’ rights, Ferrus-Comello says. Without robust minimum wage laws and worker protections, California’s social safety net is paying the price. with low-wage workers who rely on public assistance programs despite working full-time. Instead of effectively subsidizing “low-performing” employers who do little to invest in workers, California can reinforce high standards and create a virtuous cycle that helps both workers and society thrive.

Rethinking the way we connect: Policies for abundant broadband and digital access

Now more than ever, people rely on the Internet to participate in a wide range of opportunities and services, such as online learning, telecommuting, telehealth, and more. however, approximately 15% of Californians lack broadband access, including one-third of rural households and one-fifth of low-income households.

This digital divide is not a failure of technology, Helderop says, but rather a failure of regulatory design. Historically, California has relied on private companies to develop the fiber optic networks that enable digital connectivity, but many locations in rural California are unprofitable investments for private companies and thus remain disconnected.

The good news, according to Helderop, is that California has already taken big steps to address this market failure. Through Senate Bill 156 (2021), California made the largest state broadband investment in US history, funding the creation of a state fiber optic network. This network can serve as a digital highway connecting rural parts of the state to people and places around the world.

For California to build on these successes, Helderop suggests considering broadband access within the same policy framework as other utilities, such as by establishing universal service obligations, regulating affordability rates, enforcing reliability standards and requiring nondiscriminatory access. These changes can further pave the way for universal participation in the digital economy.

By reimagining how we learn, how we work, and how we connect, California can begin to create abundant economic opportunity for all.

To learn more, visit UC Berkeley Possibility Lab’s Abundance Accelerator