[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Duane E. Campbell
Professor of Education
California State University Sacramento

The school systems in most of our cities in California are currently at a crisis point. Schools can continue as they are. A segment of society will be well-educated; another segment will continue to fail. The economic crisis for working people and people of color will continue to grow (Mishel, Bernstein, Allegretto, 2007). Alternatively, schools can be transformed into places where education is a rich, compelling, and affirming process that prepares all young people to make thoughtful contributions to their community in economic and civic terms.

Reforming the schools requires money. And, the Legislature is currently deadlocked. Their issue is how much to cut this year. Frederick Douglass spoke to this issue in 1849 when he wrote the following:

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Duane E. Campbell
Professor of Education
California State University Sacramento

The California budget is a mess- at least a $15 billion deficit.

About half of California’s schools are in a mess: California’s students rank 48th out of the states in 4th grade reading on the NAEP, 47th in math, and 43rd in science. California ranks 48th in 8th grade reading on the NAEP, 45th in math, and 42nd in science.

That is, our schools are in crisis, particularly our schools serving Black, Latino and economically disadvantaged students. And, after 20 years of “school reform,” there has been no real progress.

So what is proposed in the Governor’s budget? Well first he proposes to cut $4.1 billion from the schools. This will increase class size, eliminate counselors and lead to teacher layoffs. The Governor would also cut health care to some seniors, the disabled, and children.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Duane E. Campbell
Professor of Education
California State University Sacramento

After 20 years of using a California History-Social Science Framework which is ahistorical and misses the significant contributions of Mexicans, Latinos, and Asian to U.S. and California history, the State Board of Education will hold hearings on whether the current framework should be revised. I hope that you have an opinion.

California has the largest population of any state, with more than 6,286,000 students in school in 2006 California students make up more than 11 percent of the United States total. California, along with some 16 other states, adopts textbooks for the entire state instead of district by district. This makes the California adoption the largest single textbook sale in the nation. Succeeding in market is an important goal for textbook publishers. Many publishers write and edit their books in a targeted attempt to win control of the large and lucrative California and Texas markets. In an effort to increase their profits, publishers promote and try to sell throughout the nation books developed in California and Texas.

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

This should be a good show: Former Assembly Speaker and San Francisco Mayor Willie L. Brown Jr. will speak at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Crest Theatre as part of the California Lectures subscription series. He will be in conversation with former Sacramento Mayor Phil Isenberg. A 6:30 p.m. lecture preview will be hosted by Professor Tim Hodson of California State University, Sacramento.

Brown is promoting his autobiography, "Basic Brown: My Life and Our Times" (Simon & Schuster, $26, 368 pages; in collaboration with P.J. Corkery).

Individual tickets ($25) are available at tickets.com or (800) 225-2277, and at the Crest box office, 1013 K St., (916) 442-7378. For more information: (916) 737-1300 or http://www.californialectures.org.

Image courtesy Society of Corporate Secretaries and Governance Professionals.

by dday [courtesy of Calitics: Soapblox California - Front Page]