ICUC will hold a public meeting focusing on higher education at Our Lady of Soledad Church in Coachella on April 16. Photo: COACHELLA UNINCORPORATED

Coachella — Inland Congregations United for Change (ICUC) youth leaders will kick off “A Pathway of Hope,” a program to improve access to higher education, with a public meeting focusing on quality education for local families.

The meeting will take place Tuesday, April 16, at 6 pm at Our Lady of Soledad Catholic Church
, 52555 Oasis Palm Avenue.

This forum will include student and parent testimonies, a report on the youth-led research campaign, and public comments by Coachella Valley Unified School District Superintendent Darryl S. Adams and members of the board of education.

This campaign comes after a year of research and 1,000 conversations in the local community. ICUC youth seek to improve access to higher education by aligning CVUSD Graduation Requirements with the Cal State/UC Admissions Requirements, commonly known as the A-G course requirements.

Over the past five years, 20.78 percent of CVUSD students have completed the A-G Requirements for CSU/UC admission, compared with 36.14 percent of students statewide.  This ICUC youth-led event will ask Adams and school board members to implement the A-G Default Curriculum at CVUSD schools.

Inland Congregations United for Change (ICUC) is a faith-based, grassroots nonpartisan federation of 30-member interfaith congregations representing more than 50,000 families across the Inland Empire.  The mission of ICUC is to help transform Inland Empire communities by empowering people of faith to work in the civic arena for the common good.

For more information, contact Allex Luna at [email protected].