UC Riverside Chancellor Timothy White on Wednesday encouraged members of a university booster group to bring new energy and focus to the debate on education in California.

"The community has to raise its voice and say, 'This is unacceptable,' " White said during a breakfast meeting at the campus' University Extension building.

White had spoken to the Citizens University Committee in April, giving his annual State of the University address. He asked for a return engagement in order to talk about what he sees as a crisis in education. Wednesday's meeting was a special session for the committee, which usually does not meet during the summer months.

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White cited statistics that he said showed the importance of education. Pulling figures from the U.S. Department of Labor, he said that while the nation's current unemployment rate is just under 10 percent, it is 15 percent for those with no high school diploma and 5 percent for those with a bachelor's degree.

California, once one of the highest-ranking states in terms of amount spent per capita on students, now ranks 49th.

"This is a multiyear, if not multidecade slide that has to be reversed," White said. "If we don't reverse our direction, what will happen during our lifetime is a global shifting."

Both China and India, he said, are making huge investments in education. India is in the process of building 30 new universities, he said, and is pushing toward a goal of having 70 million students in its colleges. There are 17 million students in American colleges, he said.

The local region, White said, faces particular challenges. Three key factors -- income, race and household education -- play a role in defining communities, he said.

"There is a perfect storm that's developed here in the Inland Empire," he said. White said the area has a low income and a diverse population with lower rates of education in the household.

Studies have shown that in households where neither parent has a college education, only 13 percent of children go on to earn a bachelor's degree, White said. In families where both parents have bachelor's degrees, that number rises to 50 percent.

"We have to find a way to defy these statistics so people can break through," he said.

He called on the committee to help generate a communitywide effort in support of education.

During a question-and-answer session following White's speech, Bill Gardner, a member of the committee, challenged others to follow his lead and establish scholarships for their school of choice.

"Pick your pet school," Gardner said. "Set up a non-endowed scholarship for $1,000 a year for four years. I think many of us could afford this and it might make the difference for a student."

White said it will take ideas such as that one and more to turn things around.

"This crisis will lead to change," he said, "only if the hue and cry is loud and persistent."

Reach Mark Muckenfuss at 951-368-9595 or mmuckenfuss@PE.com