California sets high standards but skimps on financial support, studies say
Published: January 21, 2005
During the first week of January, three reports related to the quality of California public education were released, with ironic results.
First, the RAND Corporation examined the condition of the state’s education system and found that by spending far less than the national average per pupil over the last 30 years, California’s schools have gone from among the best in the country to near last on national assessments of reading and math skills, as well as other measures. California’s investment in school facilities (until 2000), pupil-teacher ratio, graduation and college-going rates, and the numbers of high-needs students all compare unfavorably with the rest of the nation.
Second, in its annual “Quality Counts” report, Education Week found that in 2001-02, California had fallen to 43rd in the country in terms of student funding. New Jersey spent the most, at $3,600 per student more than California. Further, the Education Week ranking is based on spending in 2001-02, before California schools lost billions to budget cuts. The report also focused on efforts in 31 states to tie school spending more closely to achievement goals. Many states have asked courts to decide whether education funding has been adequate to achieve the goals of the state constitution, with many courts finding the state must provide greater resources.
The movement toward seeking funding that is adequate versus merely equitable is noteworthy in light of a third report that ranks California’s academic standards among the best in the country. The Thomas B. Fordham Foundation gave California an “A” for its math and English standards. Only three states received the highest score in both subjects; the national average in math was a “D”, and a “C” in English.
Many have objected to the governor’s proposal for further cuts to already low school funding while California’s expectations for its students are among the highest. A number of editorials and columns have called for the state to reexamine its priorities regarding public education.
“That debate must begin immediately,” said an editorial in the San Francisco Chronicle. “It will take resources to return our schools to the high performance we expect of them. … Without such a commitment, other ‘reforms’ amount to tinkering on the margins of a serious problem.”
In fact, the California School Boards Association is already involved in a discussion about the issue of adequate funding with other education policy-makers. In his report to the Delegate Assembly in December, Executive Director Scott P. Plotkin told school board leaders that the association is considering a number of possible strategies to educate the public and lawmakers about the issue, up to and including a possible legal challenge to the state’s system for financing its schools.. The governor, on the other hand, recently announced his desire to disband the Quality Education Commission formed by the Legislature for the purpose of determining an adequate funding formula for schools.
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