Schrag: Brace Yourself for Schwarzenegger's Ballyhooed "Year of Education" on the Horizon

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Peter Schrag

Brace yourself: California is about to get another "year of education." It will almost inevitably come with high-decibel laments about the dismal performance of California schools, excessive expectations about all the things schools can do and Bulfinch-size volumes of myths about how great they once were.

There'll be lots of modish talk – about categorical programs, testing, standards, proficiency, funding, governance, college preparation, career technical education, merit pay, class size, accountability, English learners – but little attention to what's worked.

David Long, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's secretary of education, told an interviewer for California Schools Magazine recently that the year of education "means that we'll start that creative, assertive, thoughtful conversation. ... It's going to take some time, so I always caution people that everything isn't going to be accomplished in 12 months."

That's a relief. The governor's man says it will take more than 12 months to do the job. Since the nation has been fixing schools since the founding of the Boston Latin School in 1635, it shows a rare glimmer of realism. It's especially encouraging in a governor's office that hasn't shown much capacity for, or interest in, serious educational matters.

Because he didn't understand the issues and failed to vigorously defend his own appointments to the state board of education in the past few years, Schwarzenegger lost three of the strongest educational policymakers California has had in the past generation.

And although he vetoed some of the worst of recent bills undermining California's model academic standards, in most cases it was a near thing.

The governor still seems to believe that even in a state like California, whose low achievement levels match its low investment in schools, large improvements can be bought for little or no money.