There can be leadership as there can be
following only when human beings think
together about a common theme with a shared
purpose to a common result. Leadership is
absent because this power of collective
thinking in connection with solidarity of emotion
and desire is lacking today.
---John Dewey, 1932
Without Dollars or Sense
The Budget Crisis
and California’s School Funding
UCLA/IDEA
Less Dollars
8600
8400
8200
8000
7800
7600
7400
7200
7000
8364
8423
7957
7417
2007-8
2008-9
2009-10
2010-11
6800
Budget Cuts mean
cuts to instruction.
Source: Ed Data
Budget Cuts mean
cuts to programs and services
Conditions in
California public schools
in the “good old days”
I worry about the lack of
infrastructure and resources that are
available for these people to actually
do their jobs.
---Father of California public school student, 2008
Its all about the zip codes in
California. It’s good if you live in
what you call the exclusive, good
areas.
---Mother of California public school student, 2008
How much does California spend?
US
California
CA Ranking
11372
8826
44
Adjusted Per Pupil $** 10294
8164
46
Per Pupil $*
*Per pupil expenditures for 2009-10 based on projections from NEA
**Adjusted Per Pupil expenditures for 2007 based on Education Week,
Quality Counts, 2010.
Per-pupil expenditures adjusted for regional cost
differences (2007-8)
$16,000
$14,000
$12,000
$10,000
$8,000
$14,308
$13,896
$12,419
$6,000
$11,488
$11,074
$4,000
$8,164
$2,000
$0
CA
S
o
CT
MD
NJ
NY
WV
Source: CBP*
What Can’t California Buy?
– CA Ranks 50th of all states in students per teacher
– CA Ranks 50th in students per librarian
– CA Ranks 49th in students per counselor
– CA Ranks 46th in students per administrator
Source: NCES 2007*
And Zip Codes Matter
(funding is not equally distributed)
Between
district
inequalities
Within District Inequality
?????
no way to follow the money
But inequalities are evident. . .
Within District Inequality
Spending on Teachers in LAUSD
Elementary
School
% F/R
lunch
% African
American
& Latino
$ per pupil teachers
salaries
96th St.
91%
100%
$2,368
122nd St.
88%
99%
$2,363
Palisades
18%
24%
$2,914
Topanga
12%
6%
$2,889
*This analysis based on 2004 data
So why are things so bad?
Where is CA using its
tax dollars???
What revenues fund CA schools?
Education $ come from multiple sources:
Source: EdSource, 2004
Could the pie be bigger?
Source: CBP
K-12 Spending as % of personal income*
California: 3.28%
United States: 4.25%
California Ranking: 46th
*For 2008-2009, California Budget Project.
Where do we go from here?
A Constitutional Debate in 1849
• Proceeds from Federal Lands “shall be inviolably
appropriated to the support of common schools throughout
the State.”
• Critics worried that leaving these funds open to other uses
might create “too large a fund for the support of education
… [and] “might deprive the state of the means of supporting
itself without onerous taxation.”
A Commitment to Education
I am decidedly in favor of placing every farthing that we
can, and secure it by constitutional provision, in the
hands of this community for the purpose of educating
our children. Nothing will have a greater tendency to
secure prosperity by the State, stability to our
institutions, and an enlightened state of society, than
by providing for the education of our posterity.
---Mr. McCarver
What do Californians say?
Constitutional Questions Redux:
Robles-Wong
v. California
Campaign for Quality Education
v. California
Education is a fundamental right under the California
Constitution. The State has defined this right through
adoption of academic content standards that are
“based on the knowledge and skills that pupils will
need in order to succeed in the information-based,
global economy of the 21st century.” Cal. Educ. Code
§60602. Curriculum, instructional materials, teacher
training, assessments and accountability measures
are all aligned with these academic standards. This
standards-based education program clearly defines
what all schools must teach and what all students are
expected to learn.
A question of framing
http://www.fairschoolsnow.org/