Unequal Justice continued individuals contacted the Ventura Unified School District (VUSD) school board expressing concern about the district’s contract with the Ventura Police Department to put officers in schools. While VUSD created a committee to review the contract, they have also declined to end the practice of using police in local schools. In the 2019-2020 school year, Ventura County police embedded in the school district issued 50 citations to students, mostly for truancy or unexcused absences. This program also comes at the expense of other services. VUSD paid $391,016 for police presence in schools for the 2019-2020 school year.103 Meanwhile enrollment and funding in VUSD was in steep decline, leading the district's director of budget and finance to consider reductions in school programs, staff layoffs, and even school closures.104 Children who enter the criminal justice system at a young age often have significantly worse outcomes in many aspects of their lives. Even if they are not convicted, children who are arrested are more likely to drop out of school, suffer mental health problems, have difficulty finding employment, and be arrested again.105,106 In order to avoid these negative consequences, alternatives to the school-to-prison pipeline are needed. Policy interventions such as programs to nurture at-risk youth and programs to combat childhood poverty have proven effective but require additional funding.107 Given the high costs of incarceration and policing, such a shift is less a question of affordability and more a reflection of whether local, county, and state governments want to prioritize prevention or punishment.
Environmental Inequities Systemic injustice is also at the root of disparities in the way communities of color have been affected by environmental hazards and climate change, compounding the impact of living and working in a region that has long been witness to higher than average—and rising—climate threats. The region’s accelerated climate risks have been attributed to a number of factors, including its historically rooted—and ongoing—reliance on oil and gas drilling, industrialized agriculture, truck and rail transport arteries, and military bases as engines of growth and development. The two counties are also heavily car dependent, and notably short of adequate public transportation and related clean energy alternatives, contributing substantially to the region’s high carbon emissions levels. Fifty-plus years after the massive Santa Barbara oil spill put the region on high alert, Ventura County and Santa Barbara have been the fastest-warming counties in the state, with average temperatures rising
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TOWARDS A JUST AND EQUITABLE CENTRAL COAST
