A new report delivers bad and good news for the Central Valley. The bad news: Most parents, 79%, want their children to get a bachelor’s degree, but just 26% of students in the region are on pace to achieve that. The good news: Central Valley educators in both K-12 and higher education are pioneering strategies that could transform the region’s low college attainment rates. That includes broadly expanding dual enrollment opportunities; increasing the number of students meeting requirements to graduate from high school; and creating regional partnerships to smooth key transitions between high school, community college and four-year universities. A sweeping new report, “Pathways to College Completion in the San Joaquin Valley,” by the Public Policy Institute of California found a multitude of factors contributing to lower college attainment rate in the region, compared to the rest of the state, including a lack of preparation in high school, low university application rates (especially to the UC system), financial constraints, campus proximity, and a perception of less access. That’s a problem for the state, as well as the region.