California school system

From Sunshine Review

Jump to: navigation, search

Contents

The California school system (prekindergarten-grade 12) operates within districts governed by locally elected school boards members and superintendents.

The California state constitution requires that the state offer not only a free public school system but also to provide a "a general diffusion of knowledge and intelligence being essential to the preservation of the rights and liberties of the people."[1]

[edit] School revenues, expenditures and budget

See also: California state budget
California's education costs are about 1/3 of the state budget

The state of California has a $134.7 billion budget for 2009-2010, according to the proposed budget. Education accounts for approximately $40.7 billion or 30.2% of the total budget. However, those budget figures do not include federal funds, some non-governmental cost funds or reimbursements.[2]

[edit] Impact of budget woes

  • On July 1, 2009, officials announced that the state's budget crisis has forced the state to eliminate summer school for 2009. The announcement was parallel to California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's declaration of a fiscal state of emergency.[3]
  • In early July 2009 a plan to help reduce the budget crisis included a 20% cut to school transportation, bringing the total cost of transportation to $496 million. Originally, the governor recommended a cut of $315 million.[4]
  • According to reports, in August 2009, the Los Angeles Unified School District announced that they plan to raise property taxes for L.A. homeowners in light of declining tax revenues. The current rate is $123 per $100,000 of assessed value. Officials said that they expect rates to rise about $200 by 2012. The generated funds will be used to pay school bonds and add to the construction fund. Additionally, because the district cannot use new local bonds they are currently considering a parcel tax.[5]
  • In 2009 the Los Angeles School District laid off a total of about 2,000 teachers and 750 other employees.[5]
  • Oscar De La Hoya Animo Charter High School has not had a permanent home in the past 5 years. In Fall 2009 it was scheduled to move to a permanent $25 million facility but was put on hold because of financial reasons.[5]

[edit] Personnel salaries

  • The Rand Corporation has compiled data on teacher salaries for every district and can be searched here. The Sacramento Bee has also compiled data, through 2007-08, into a searchable format and can be found here.
  • On July 1, 2009 United States Education Secretary Arne Duncan suggested linking teacher salaries to student performance.[6]

[edit] Textbook costs

In an effort to reduce the state's $24 billion budget gap in 2009, Gov. Schwarzenegger announced that by Fall 2010 he intends to make free, open-source digital textbooks available for high school math and science classes. Currently, the state of California spends a total of $350 million on instructional material (i.e., text books, handouts, etc.).

Proponents for Schwarzenegger's proposal argue that the as information changes so can the material that is used in schools, unlike using out-of-date textbooks until you have the funds to order new ones. Digital material would still have to be approved by the state education officials but unlike traditional textbooks, that are on a 6 year cycle between approval checks, they can be checked easier and faster.

However, opponents argue that although it is a nice idea, the problem still remains of students that are unable to afford a home computer. In order to make the program a success, the state of California, they say will have to find a reliable source of revenue to cover the costs of ensuring that there is a sufficient number of computers available.[7]

[edit] Role of unions

  • In July 2009, United States Education Secretary Arne Duncan challenged members of the National Education Association to stop resisting linking teacher pay with student performance. "It's not enough to focus only on issues like job security, tenure, compensation, and evaluation," he said. "You must become full partners and leaders in education reform. You must be willing to change."[6]
  • In June 2009, the California Teachers Association announced that they could not support Gov. Schwarzenegger's plan for digital textbooks in 2010. "It's a nice idea, but it's not going to work," said David Sanchez, president of the California Teachers Association. "Where are you going to get a computer for everybody? How many of these kids actually have computers at home?" Instead, Sanchez said that he would like to see the governor's proposal for increasing funds for education. The union suggested increasing tax revenues to directly support schools.[7]
  • Other California unions include: California Federation of Teachers

[edit] Role of school boards

The State Board of Education is the governing and policy-making body of the California public schools. The board addresses and sets policy regarding standards, instructional materials and accountability. The state board is comprised of a total of 11 members, all of which are appointed by the governor.[8]

Each public school district is governed by a specific school board and a superintendent. The superintendent may be elected at each gubernatorial election or may be appointed by the county board of education by a majority vote.[9]

[edit] Taxpayer-funded lobbying

See also: California taxpayer-funded lobbying

Taxpayer-funded lobbyists for state public schools include:

[edit] Transparency

See also: Evaluation of California school district websites

In 2008, the governor launched School Finder, a website that provides access to data reported by California’s schools to the California Department of Education. Data available on the website covers state elementary through high schools and includes traditional, alternative, adult education and charter schools. “This vital information, compiled in one easy-to-navigate site, will increase school accountability and transparency, and put power back into the hands of California parents. The facts of achievement for every school in California are now easily accessible – not buried in bureaucracy,” said Gov. Schwarzenegger about the launch.[10]

[edit] Reports

A 2009 study, Leaders and Laggards, conducted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for a Competitive Workplace, Frederick M. Hess of the conservative American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, and the Center for American Progress, gave California: "F" in academic achievement; "B" in truth in advertising about student proficiency; "A" in rigor of standards; "B" in post-secondary and workforce readiness; "A" in for its teacher workforce policies; "D" in data quality.[11]

[edit] Academic performance

[edit] Public schools

Since 2006, high school students have been required to pass the high school exit exam. In June 2009, however, California lawmakers called for the suspension of the requirement. Proponents for the suspension argue that with the state's current budget crisis and budget cuts the state cannot expect students to perform as well before the budget cuts, said Assembly Speaker Karen Bass. Under the proposal students would still take the exam, once, but it would not be a graduation requirement. Opponents argue that the proposal will cause the program to lose momentum in the schools and students would lose the motivation to perform well in school in order to receive their high school diplomas.

For the Class of 2008, results showed that 90.2% passed the exam in time for graduation. Additionally results revealed that 80.1% of African-American students, 72.8% of English-language learners and 53.8% of special education students passed the exam.[12]

[edit] Charter schools

A report by the Stanford University Center for Research on Education Outcomes revealed in June 2009 that charter schools had mixed results.[13] Charter school surpass public schools in in reading but fall behind in math.[14] In light of low-performance reports, the California Charter Schools Association proposed establishing a new evaluation system for charter schools and closing the lowest-performing 1% of the state's charter schools in 2010. "We have, clearly, some of the most successful schools in the nation that are charter schools in Los Angeles and California," Jed Wallace, the associations chief executive officer, said, "but we also have some that are not measuring up."[15]

[edit] School choice

School choice options include:

  • Charter schools:California has more than 700 charter schools, the most of any state. Nationwide there are approximately 4,000 charter schools.[14] In order to start a charter school, school organizers must first seek approval from a local school district but they can appeal a denial to the county office of education and then to the state.[13]
    • Green Dot Public schools: is a group of 17 charter schools in the Los Angeles region, operated by a non-profit organization. Green Dot receives about $8,400 per high school student from the state. Washington, D.C. for example receives $10,376 per high school student. Green Dot was founded in 1999. The organization was developed, particularly, in response to the Los Angeles area's failing schools.[16]
  • Public school choice: According to the California Department of Education, beginning in 2002-03, students attending a Title I-funded school that is identified for program improvement, corrective action, or restructuring is given the option of school choice. In other words, students can transfer to alternative public or charter school that is not currently under improvement, corrective action or restructuring. Should the student's original school move out of the improvement category, that students still has the option to stay at the school he transferred to.[17]
  • Unsafe school choice: If a school is determined to be "unsafe" because it is "persistently dangerous" or a student becomes the victim of a crime a student is allowed to transfer to another public school.[18]
  • Supplemental educational services: If a low-income student attends a school that has been categorized as Title 1 school for 3 or more years, the government will provide supplemental educational services. Services include tutoring, remediation and academic intervention.[19]

[edit] External links

[edit] Additional reading

[edit] References

  1. ↑ California Constitution,"Article 9, Section 1," retrieved July 3, 2009
  2. ↑ California Budget,"Education (K-12)," retrieved July 2, 2009
  3. ↑ The New York Times,"Facing Deficits, Some States Cut Summer School," July 1, 2009
  4. ↑ The Sacramento Bee,"California budget cuts target school bus service," July 5, 2009
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Los Angeles Times,"Los Angeles school district will sharply raise taxes on property owners," August 15, 2009
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Associated Pres,"Education Secretary Challenges NEA On Teacher Pay," July 2, 2009
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Christian Science Monitor,"Schwarzenegger leads push for digital textbooks," June 30, 2009
  8. ↑ California State Board of Education,"State Board of Education," retrieved July 2, 2009
  9. ↑ California Constitution,"Article 9, Section 3," retrieved July 3, 2009
  10. ↑ State of California,"Governor Schwarzenegger Launches “School Finder” Web Site for California Parents and Children," July 16, 2008
  11. ↑ U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute,"California Education Report Card," retrieved November 16, 2009
  12. ↑ San Jose Mercury News,"Suspend California's high school exit exam, Democrats propose," June 19, 2009
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 The Press-Enterprise,"Study: Charter school performance mixed," June 15, 2009
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Los Angeles Times,"California charter schools stronger in reading than math," June 15, 2009
  15. ↑ The Los Angeles Times,"Low-performing charter schools in California could close under plan," June 18, 2009
  16. ↑ The Washington Post,"L.A. Group In Talks to Run D.C. High School," July 2, 2009
  17. ↑ California Department of Education,"Title I, Part A School Choice," retrieved July 3, 2009
  18. ↑ U.S. Department of Education,"Unsafe school choice," February 2003
  19. ↑ U.S. Department of Education,"Supplemental education services," February 2003
v • d • e
California school system
Retrieved from "http://sunshinereview.org/index.php/California_school_system"