CA: Public school failures raise questions of political leadership

Bakersfield Californian ^ | 4/3/05 | Beth Fouhy - AP

[sailor4321]

It also says that Jackie Goldberg is just flat out lying (not surprise for that commie B#$ch) when she says California ranks 42nd in education spending.

[Myrddin]

Imagine!! The places with the richest residents are the ones with the most funding for schools, which means rich white kids get better-paid teachers!! Oh, the humanity!!

That is a gross misstatement. California once permitted local property taxes to fund local schools. The quality of schools was directly tied to the local tax base. That ceased to be the case in 1977 with the Carlin desegregation case in San Diego. Property tax money was sent to Sacramento after that time and redistributed as the state saw fit. Forced busing to achieve "integration" was viewed as the big fix.

The big fix didn't do squat for academics...except to drive the overall level of expectations DOWN. The egalitarian spreading of property tax revenues over the whole state caused previously high performing schools to go down the tubes.

I graduated from Hilltop High School in Chula Vista in 1973. The school was in a high property tax area and was a top performer academically. My graduating class valedictorian was a hispanic girl who was accepted to Yale (and subsequently graduated). One third of the student population achieved membership in the California Scholastic Foundation.

Today the school is predominantly hispanic and black. Statewide it ranks 376 out of 834. It ranks 36 out of 61 within San Diego county.

My two oldest sons graduated from Mira Mesa High School in San Diego (1999/2001). MMHS is ranked 11 out of 61 on the same scale used to compare Hilltop. MMHS is predominantly Asian.

The lowest ranked schools in San Diego county are in predominantly black and hispanic neighborhoods. Southwest High School was built in 1972. About 14 years newer than Hilltop. Much nicer facilities. It is ranked 60/61. Throwing money at the problem doesn't help.

[wizardoz]

This is my first year teaching and I've spent most of it in shock at how feral and stupid a lot of these kids are. I'm from the midwest and children just didn't act like that where I came from. Of course, I remember an art teacher armed with a paddle who went a long way in maintaining order... can't have that nowadays, though.

I don't even know how long I'll manage to do this without exploding. If I can survive another two years, I can probably get into a decent private school... here's hoping...

[longjack]

One advantage of teaching is that you can move anywhere.

I'm at a couple of small schools in Maine, currently. The educational environment is good, so the job is enjoyable. I'm pleased with the education my kids are getting. They were homeschooled at one time when I worked in an area where I didn't trust the schools.

I'm not a classroom teacher, any more, though. I split between PE and Tech, so I don't have the student motivation issues you classroom teachers do.

It's hard to describe the frustration a classrom teacher is exposed to in your situation. The kids are not educable, and yet you spend 90% of your time dealing with them on discipline issues. There's no way the few motivated students can learn anything.

Good luck getting through the year. I hope you can find something more rewarding soon.

longjack

[ByDesign]

CA public schools remind me of the "utopian" society in Ira Levin's "This Perfect Day", or "A Brave New World" - the focus in no longer giving kids tools to succeed in life, but merely imprint a liberal mindset and "lifestyle" and train willing stooges, who are illiterate and cannot rise above the lowered expectations and "equality" that imprisons them.

While I agree that teachers are underpaid, I hate to support wage hikes because I know the deserving teachers will starve, and the piggy tenured hacks will claim their space at the trough, as usual.

[mpreston]

..... and wants lawmakers to consider raising taxes on commercial property, which, like residential property, is protected from steep tax increases under Proposition 13.

And From http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1375313/posts

Otellini warns taxes could send plant overseas The New York Times ^ | March 31, 2005, 9:50 PM PST | John Markoff

The president of Intel, Paul S. Otellini, warned a federal panel addressing tax issues that because of high tax rates in the United States, his company may build its next $3 billion semiconductor factory overseas.

...

"The problem that we have and which the industry has is that it costs us $1 billion more to operate inside the U.S. than outside of the country," he said. "It's not wages and capital; its almost all attributed to tax benefits--or the lack thereof--in the United States compared to what is offered elsewhere."

Slight disconnect here .... Combine this with the fact that students are getting a poor education and are not prepared for the sciences, the disconnect is even bigger than the above statements.