Editorial: Education in California has a long way to go

To improve the quality of schools across the nation, the federal
No Child Left Behind education law requires students in grades two
through 11 to take standardized tests over 10 years in hopes that
all pupils will be “proficient” by 2013. The latest
results were released on Aug. 15.

The test results in California have increased overall and caused
a good amount of “oohs” and “aahs” from
state officials. But they should not be so quick to pat themselves
on the back.

California remains in the company of states with the worst
public education systems in the country, which is ironic
considering it has the most children of school-going age
nationwide. And though there have been increases, the fact that
only 17 percent of the state’s 10th graders are considered
proficient in math makes it clear that there is a long way to go
before California can be proud of the public education it
offers.

These test scores should serve as a reminder to state
legislators of how little they have done for public education
lately.

The federal law states that action will be taken against schools
that do not meet the minimum requirements after a 10-year period of
testing. Consequences begin with a requirement that a restructuring
plan be drawn up, but can be as extreme as the removal of teachers
or principals.

That gives California five years to try to repair a system that
has been broken for years.

Avoiding the federal sanctions that await many of the
state’s public schools should only give legislators and the
governor more reason to work to provide more funding for public
education ““ which would be a change of pace for Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger. Last year he made an agreement with teachers to cut
$2 billion from the education budget in return for better funding
in the future ““ he hasn’t fulfilled that promise.

If not remedied now, the reality is that things could only get
worse ““ and the ramifications of the federal sanctions could
be felt beyond K-12 education.

California schools that are scoring the lowest on these exams
are found in low-income areas and regions with a high concentration
of minorities. Withholding money from these already-suffering
schools and districts will ultimately hurt the state’s
higher-education system.

The University of California schools, especially UCLA, have been
struggling with a lack of diversity in their student bodies. Taking
away from schools that are serving more diverse communities at the
K-12 end will not help.

Only politicians can spin a 43 percent English proficiency level
for ninth-graders as positive.

There is the well-known joke that half of the people you know
are, by definition, below average. The joke on the state of
California’s education is that less than half of our children
are good enough for the federal government to deem them close to
adequate. California’s joke of a solution thus far appears to
be less money and fewer teachers.