Not surprisingly, most Californians have become quite skeptical about the public education system and spending on it. A new poll by the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) shows education falling to its lowest level of ranking as the state’s most important issue in three years. Most feel the system has not improved, despite constant infusions of public funds and the voters’ regular response to exhortations to do more in election after election.
Only 9% view education as the top issue in California, the lowest level since August 2004. But voters aren’t happy about education. One could say a certain ennui has set in, a sense of resignation, perhaps cynicism.
While Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has a 62% job approval rating among likely voters, he rates only 34% approval on education. The Legislature is much worse, just 21% on education. Schwarzenegger says next year will be the Year of Education.
But this year, California voters are unhappy about education. And they aren’t necessarily buying the message set out by a big foundation study last month that called for massive new spending on education.
California has passed education bonds on most every ballot over the past decade, amounting to some $45 billion in education-related bonds. With the new spending, most voters think that California ranks at or above the national average in per pupil spending. In fact, it ranks 29th out of 50 states.
But even with the reality, not to mention the perception, which slightly outruns the reality, of new spending on education, most California voters do not think that educational performance is improving, believing instead that California ranks below average or near the bottom in performance compared to kids in other states.
Most want local control on education, in contrast to the reality of a system dominated by state government and a powerful education lobby.
In a further problem for the education lobby, the number of Californians who say their schools lack adequate funding has gone down sharply since 2000. Then 63% agreed with that notion. Today it is down to 48%.
And most tax increases to provide more school funding are rejected on principle, including sales tax and property tax increases. However, most say they could support an income tax hike on the wealthy. And two-thirds say they could support a bond measure for local school construction. But that is down from nearly 80% seven years ago.
Says PPIC chief Mark Baldassare: “State leaders have three steep challenges to overcome if they hope to rally support for additional education funding and reform: First, majorities of state residents are critical of the way the governor and state legislature are handling the issue. Second, residents clearly lack confidence in the state to allocate resources to schools. And third, residents are reluctant to increase spending on education without fiscal accountability.”
37% say that educational performance can be bettered simply by making more efficient use of existing funds. Only 11% think the answer is increased funding. Just under half think the answer is a blend of spending more efficiently and increasing funding.
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39 Comments
Jonas Blane:It doesn’t seem surprising. We expect results when we spend money.
Apr 26, 2007 - 6:08 am Ann:They were lucky to pass the big schools construction bond last year.
Apr 26, 2007 - 6:27 am Bill Bradley:It’s the Post-Reiner Initiative era, as I wrote nine months ago.
Apr 26, 2007 - 6:50 am Capitol Boy:What’s amazing is reading how the lib reporters writing about this spin these numbers.
Apr 26, 2007 - 8:01 am Sacramento Solon:The biggest problem with schools is the homes the children come from. Parents no longer do the job.
Apr 26, 2007 - 8:04 am Capitol Boy:That eliminates the teachers union as a problem. How convenient.
Apr 26, 2007 - 8:11 am Sacramento Solon:Capitol Boy.
No. Not my point. I’m not a fan of CTA. Not at all.
The entire educational system is messed up. However, I believe that it all begins when parents abdicate their responsibilites to the schools. And, while I may be wrong, I blieve they do.
Apr 26, 2007 - 8:20 am Sacramento Solon:Let me say one other thing…since I have no children or nothing other than opinions not based upon research on this subject, perhaps I should just keep my big trap shut on the subject.
Let those of you were experience and subject matter knowledge battle it out. So, I’ll just read and learn.
Apr 26, 2007 - 8:31 am Bill Bradley:One thing people might want to do is discuss the POLL.
Apr 26, 2007 - 8:32 am Wilbur:I think you’re both right. CTA’s hegemony is as problematic as that of CCPOA, with analogous consequences to the manageability and cost-effectiveness of the institutions. And parental abdication is a serious problem, both in the schools and in the streets.
Apr 26, 2007 - 8:34 am Hap Hazard:One problem that I have noticed in raising a kid in the public school system and in this state is that kids now face literally hundreds of restrictions and rules, and are regarded by the “system” as helpless children, when in fact they are adults. We are wasting their time in a warehouse environment, and they are punished for exhibiting normal youthful behavior, the young men especially.
The educational institutions are forced to answer to a similar set of paternalistic rules governing nearly every aspect of the school day and the curriculum. Like Bill indicates, local control by parents and teachers in the classroom is an illusion.
The local principals have become cynical, and focus on campus policing and supervision, not seemingly interested in even getting permanent teachers in the classroom. My son has had more classes taught by substitute teachers than by permanent teachers.
The Bush-Kennedy No Child Left Behind nonsense exacerbates the problems, by requiring even more hoops through which one must jump at the local school level before a student can be released. The state testing results in more of the same.
I would support sending ZERO new dollars down the rat hole, start encouraging or even requiring kids to take the High School Proficiency Examination the day they turn 16, so that many can begin their lives as junior college students and be college Juniors at age 18.
There should be no state department of education, period. There are myriad national standards and benchmarks that teachers and administrators know about. Schools that are accredited nationally should be eligible for ADA money, even if they are private, or they are a state community college.
Apr 26, 2007 - 8:53 am Ann:Wouldn’t the schools be better if more teachers could pass basic competence exams?
Apr 26, 2007 - 8:56 am Hap Hazard:I am encouraged by the results of the poll. It is encouraging to note that a majority believe that the Legislature and the Education Bureaucracy in Sacramento are not getting it done. If there was a number one problem, in my opinion, they are it.
I find myself becoming increasingly enamored with repealing the Education Code entirely, something I ridiculed republicans for suggesting in the mid nineties.
Apr 26, 2007 - 9:03 am Wilbur:Bill, I think we’re discussing some of the perceptions that drive those POLL numbers (see, I said “poll”). It’s sad and shocking to see that only a pitiful 9% place public education on their short list of priorities, but as you point out, that seems to be driven by cynical doubt that under the current power structures more money could solve the problems in the classrooms and wouldn’t just get sucked into salaries and bureaucracy. It’s time for somebody to devise a pay-for-performance solution tying an infusion of funding to structural reforms. Otherwise, as these numbers seem to confirm, it’s no sale.
And I also agree 100% with Hap. though I encounter very good people within the system who are trying very hard, the micromanaging mandates and zero-tolerance jihads make our schools a place to be tolerated and eventually escaped from, rather than a place to want to be.
Apr 26, 2007 - 9:05 am Bill Bradley:Why take the state out entirely?
Isn’t there a way to design a simple set of standards for all stakeholders to meet?
Apr 26, 2007 - 9:07 am Hap Hazard:Ann - In my experience, it isn’t that teachers can’t pass a competency exam. The real issue is that competent teachers, whether they be newly minted and credentialed or veterans, have become disillusioned because they no longer have any say over what is taught or how their students are taught.
In addition their jobs have begun to more closely resemble that of campus police. Young people are growing up faster than ever before, but at the same time, do-gooder legislators and governors are passing more restrictions and controls over the behavior and curriculum of students.
As a result, the competent and dedicated teachers are retiring, moving on to different careers, or are teaching in the elementary grades. Nobody wants to put up with the bullshit that is high school, and to a slightly less extent, middle school.
Apr 26, 2007 - 9:18 am Hap Hazard:Why take the state out entirely?
Isn’t there a way to design a simple set of standards for all stakeholders to meet?
the trouble I see with this is that the established bureaucracy, the Legislature, and the companion CTA aren’t content to stop there. There is an overwhelming temptation to meddle in the most minute details, including what kids are allowed to wear to school. There are about 2 or 3 “resource specialists” for every teacher, whose job is to compile statistics and track expenditures, so the district can report back to the legislature and the LAO, so they can enact new “programs”, “pilot projects” and changes to existing ones.
Apr 26, 2007 - 9:27 am Barbara:PPIC”In general, Californians today are demanding accountability to go along with their spending. Slightly less than half (48%) say the state needs to spend more wisely and increase the amount it spends, while 37 percent think the state can improve educational quality by just making better use of existing funds. A mere 11 percent of Californians say increased funding alone is the answer. But if residents were assured that funds would be used efficiently, a full 75 percent say they would support increasing money
for K-12 public education.”
The above is important.
This is almost identical with a previous poll finding on education PPIC did last year.
The Unions will never be able to ensure us that funds will be used efficiently.
Because they can’t and won’t …
educational aparthheid is the system they have constructed and are presently supporting…
all the Dems that suck up to them for campaign funds and empower them should be ashamed.
This country will pay dearly for the education system we foster.
Apr 26, 2007 - 9:33 am Bill Bradley:That doesn’t mean it can’t be done.
Incidentally, how would one go about removing the state from the equation?
Apr 26, 2007 - 9:33 am Bill Bradley:That question was directed to Hap.
Apr 26, 2007 - 9:34 am Hap Hazard:Incidentally, how would one go about removing the state from the equation?
OK. In my opinion,it would have to be a truly grass roots ballot initiative that was quite radical. Among the provisions would be a declaration that what is enacted in the constitutional measure is intended to occupy the field completely, and that no law can be enacted that is inconsistent with or expansive of the provisions in the initiative, unless their is 2/3 vote of the legislature and 2/3 vote of the voters.
The state would hand out ADA money, but to any school that met some objective, nationally-recognized accreditation standards. In addition, ADA money is available to community colleges and universities, and to accredited apprenticeship programs in the building and construction trades, automotive repair, computer programming and network administration, and perhaps a few more.
Beyond this distribution of money, and perhaps some small oversight of accreditation or schools and teachers, the state has no involvement. That would also mean, no statewide school bond acts for building and maintaining schools. Local school districts would be responsible for all school building and utilization.
There would have to also be a mechansm to allow pathways for young people to progress on a fast track to higher educational institutions. In my opinion, one of the largest wastes of resources is the forced institutional confinement of young people between the ages of 13-18, who could be advancing their knowledge at an exponential pace in their youth instead of languishing in a Groundhog Day institution where they learn the same things they were taught in 4th-6th grade over and over and over and over again.
Beyond these simple provisions, the rest of the state rules and laws are surplusage, and do nothing to advance the well being or education of young folks. SO I would repeal the education code as the final component of this fictional initiative
Apr 26, 2007 - 9:52 am Barbara:Hap…
You nailed it…Susie should hire you for Arnold’s next year’s agenda…”education”
Apr 26, 2007 - 10:08 am Wilbur:I’m with Hap on all but the prohibition on statewide school construction bonds. Poorer districts with weaker tax bases need the help, and all of the state’s taxpayers have an interest and responsibility to help bring the low-income districts and their students along. But nearly all of the control circuits leading from Sacramento need to be cut.
Query: Would CTA’s hegemony be reduced, or enhanced, by shifting control to local boards?
I also strongly agree re: developing a fast-track escape chute. We’re in the process of devising a strategy to pull our bored-to-tears 17 year old, have him take the proficiency exam, and get him into community college for a year of university prep rather than have him rust for another year in a system forced to focus on getting the bottom end of the curve to bring up their test scores.
Apr 26, 2007 - 10:25 am Hap Hazard:We’re in the process of devising a strategy to pull our bored-to-tears 17 year old, have him take the proficiency exam, and get him into community college for a year of university prep rather than have him rust for another year. . .
Wilbur - I am doing precisely that same thing for my 16-year old sophomore! I just sent out the $92 check for his admission to the June 23, 2007 CA High School Proficiency Exam!
I fully intend to disenroll him from high school this summer, and have him attending junior college full time as a freshman there this coming fall.
This track is supposed to be publicized by every school in the state, but I rather doubt that it is because it might mean loss of the almighty ADA money.
You make an interesting point about low-income districts, but the problem there is that we start down the path of paternalism and other strings attached to this assistance. Besides, I would think that if we opened up the ADA money to alternative school settings, such as trade schools, apprenticeships, and the junior colleges, there isn’t such a need to have the schools tied to the neighborhood.
Of course, elementary schools are little bit different, but not that much. It is much easier to establish a small, local, neighborhood school without having to contend with all the mandates and bullshit emanating from Sacramento. . .
Apr 26, 2007 - 10:52 am Hap Hazard:Thank you for your kind comment Barbara.
Apr 26, 2007 - 10:54 am Ann:It sounds like you’re anti-jobs. lol
Apr 26, 2007 - 11:04 am Hap Hazard:sounds like you’re anti-jobs
Funny! You are probably right. Think of all the stae workers we would lose, and school district crats! I am anti-jobs for CTA members that think they should be the only ones who can run a sheet metal or construction apprenticeship program. I think that the trade unions themselves are the real pros, so why not cut right to them to perform this service? Come to think of it I had better get on with my own job . .
Apr 26, 2007 - 11:13 am Wilbur:A bridge between school-based voc ed and union apprenticeship programs would be a very good thing, a REAL track for the non-college-bound. The politics would be interesting too, pitting CTA against real private sector unions. Kind of like the scope-of-practice battles in the medical/quasi-medical field.
Apr 26, 2007 - 11:27 am Hap Hazard:Wilbur - You are right that the scope of practice and other battle for a big change in education would be epic, but I think that if there was a real grass roots effort, all of this could be overcome, and they might at least be stuck with no option to go to the legislature to fight out the battle, like you have seen the optometrists, doctors, podiatrists and dentists do for decades.
Apr 26, 2007 - 11:50 am Bill Bradley:When you dig into the poll, I think you find most people want an emphasis on college prep.
As you know, in the future everyone will be above average.
>Wilbur :
Apr 26, 2007 - 12:29 pm Capitol Boy:A bridge between school-based voc ed and union apprenticeship programs would be a very good thing, a REAL track for the non-college-bound. The politics would be interesting too, pitting CTA against real private sector unions. Kind of like the scope-of-practice battles in the medical/quasi-medical field.
Apr 26, 2007 11:27 AM
I thought in the future everyone’d be famous for 15 minutes.
Apr 26, 2007 - 12:43 pm Jeff:So everyone will be above average for 15 minutes.
Apr 26, 2007 - 12:49 pm NickM:One bad teacher can set an entire class back a year. It is very difficult for a subsequent teacher to bring the kids up to speed, and they often end up falling further behind because the next teacher cannot give them the remedial instruction while still keeping the other students on track.
It’s not that hard to recognize really bad teachers. Most teachers know who at their own school is bad - and so do involved parents whose kid(s) have been through the bad teacher’s class.
So how do we get bad teachers removed?
Apr 26, 2007 - 1:21 pm Bill Bradley:That’s Warhol. Is he still cool?
>Capitol Boy :
Apr 26, 2007 - 2:22 pm Jonathan Hemlock:I thought in the future everyone’d be famous for 15 minutes.
Apr 26, 2007 12:43 PM
Mr. Warhol is still cool. The present system of education is still not.
Apr 26, 2007 - 3:18 pm Ann:There is some huge number of teachers who failed a basic competence test.
Apr 26, 2007 - 6:46 pm Bill Bradley:That is essentially correct.
Apr 26, 2007 - 7:22 pm Jonas Blane:How many fail?
Apr 27, 2007 - 5:55 am Bill Bradley:I recall it being around 30% a few years back.
Apr 27, 2007 - 7:22 am