[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

Parents and educators have voiced their strong opposition to all cuts to schools and students. And while the Governor’s revised budget proposal avoids suspending Proposition 98, the state’s minimum school funding law, it still cuts billions of dollars from public education. It makes cuts to the many vital programs that help student achievement, like class size reduction. It also fails to include a cost-of-living adjustment for schools, despite the steadily increasing operating costs for local districts. With this budget, schools and students are once again being asked to “do more with less.”
 
With more than 20,000 layoff notices already sent to teachers, custodians, school bus drivers, principals and other school employees around the state, California's schools and students have paid a steep price for proposed budget cuts. Many teachers have already been recruited to leave the state. In addition, many school districts have already been forced to cut music, arts and career technical education programs.

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

As students statewide sharpen their no. 2s and begin the annual bubble filling and essay writing on academic assessments to measure their progress, we thought Sacramento legislators and political reporters alike could share in the experience with a special "pop quiz" on education funding issues.

Since much misinformation has been spread recently about the real facts and figures on school funding, be careful -- while there are no "trick questions," there are plenty of wrong answers.

We hope you "ace" the pop quiz, but if you’d like to discuss your grade or your answers, please contact: Robin Swanson at (916) 204-6890.

1) The Education Coalition reports that per pupil spending in California is $7,081, while the governor says it is $11,541. Which number accurately reflects direct spending in our schools?

A) $7,081
B) $11,541

2) True or False: The education funding cuts are a "mere 1.9 percent," as some legislators and the governor have reported.

A) True
B) False

3) A $4.8 billion cut to our schools is equivalent to:

by Brian Leubitz [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

[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.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Jack O’Connell
California Superintendent of Public Instruction

I am so pleased that California now has a spending plan in place for this fiscal year that protects the Proposition 98 guarantee and provides a cost-of-living increase for school programs. I applaud the Governor and the Legislature for making education a priority in what was a very difficult budget year.

I am glad that the budget includes a much-needed 4.7-cent increase in the school meal reimbursement rate aimed at improving the nutritional quality of meals served to students through a ban on trans fats and deep-fried foods. For many students in our state, the meal they get at school is the one healthy meal they can count on each day.