California drops to 49th in school spending in annual Ed Week report

[Starry Messenger]

Sigh.

http://www.edsource.org/today/2013/california-drops-to-49th-in-school-spending-in-annual-ed-week-report/25379#.UPX3EaHDShb

California tumbled two more spots, to 49th in the nation in per-pupil spending, in Education Week’s latest annual Quality Counts report, released last week. The ranking, which includes Washington, D.C., and the 50 states, covers spending in 2010 and thus doesn’t include the impact of higher taxes that voters approved in passing Proposition 30 in November.

California’s per-student spending of $8,482 was $3,342 – 28 percent – below the national average of $11,824. Only Nevada ($8,419) and Utah ($7,042) spent less. Another Western state, Wyoming – $18,814 per student – led the nation in spending. The gap between California and the nation grew $344 per student in 2010, as California’s per-student spending dropped $185 from the year before as a result of a massive state budget deficit, while spending nationally grew $159. Last year, California ranked 47th out of 51; two years ago, before the impact of the recession, it was 43rd.

Education Week’s often-cited annual ranking factors in regional costs of living. (There are also significant regional cost disparities within California.) By comparison, according to the most recent report by the U.S. Census Bureau, covering 2009-10, California spent $9,375 per student, ranking 35th in the nation and only $1,240 below the national average of $10,615.

California also ranked low – tied for fifth-worst – in another Education Week measure, the percentage of state and local taxable resources spent on K-12 education. California, along with Oregon, Louisiana and Tennessee, spent 2.9 percent, compared with 4.4 percent nationally. Vermont was at the top, spending 5.8 of resources on education; Delaware (2.4 percent) was at the bottom.

[ellisonz]

1. Yay California!

[Betsy Ross]

2. Having been educated in California pre-Jarvis/Gann

And our schools were the best the country, this just boils my blood. And yet, California ranks best in the country for science ed. Makes you wonder what Wyoming is doing with the money, cause it ain't science.
spelling on edit

[marybourg]

3. Thia is what the people of California voted for when they voted for prop 13.

[Starry Messenger]

5. Not everyone alive now was old enough to vote

for Prop 13. My generation just voted successfully for Prop 30, voted down Prop 32, and elected a Democratic majority to the State Assembly for the first time in decades.

But thanks.

[marybourg]

6. No, of course not, but actions have consequences long into the future and

this particular consequence was obvious to all at the time.

[Starry Messenger]

7. I was born in 1970.

I *am* the consequences. Anything else useful you'd like to add? Or should we just do nothing and not talk about how to change this shitty state of affairs because you know everything?

[marybourg]

15. Then you're nearly young enough to be my grand-child and while I certainly don't

know everything, I certainly know a heck of a lot more than you do, including what it was that people were thinking and saying at a time before you were born and which, as you point out, has consequences for you. Nothing I said should have elicited that abusive reply.

[Starry Messenger]

16. What was the purpose of derailing this thread with

the that's what CA deserves for all being Prop 13 supporters snark then? I found that abusive.

[marybourg]

19. 1) Because I had something to say. 2) I did not derail the thread, I furthered it.

3) I did not attack you personally as you did me. 4) I did not say "that's what CA deserves for all being Prop 13 supporters". 5) If you want complete control over what is said in a thread you start, you need to write a blog, not make a statement on a discussion board where other people are just as entitled to make statements as you are.

[Starry Messenger]

20. LOL.

Well, you'll be thrilled to know that the "people of California" you sweepingly referenced in your opening post now support a split roll reform of Prop 13 by about 58%.

Hope to see you supporting threads about it.

I worked personally along with my local to help pass Prop 30. I do not enjoy being lumped in with Jarvis voters.

[Le Taz Hot]

9. Your generation?

All by yourselves? With no significant votes from any other demographic? Dude, that's just awesome.

[Starry Messenger]

11. People younger than both of us put it over the top Dude.

http://www.dailycal.org/2012/11/14/passage-of-prop-30-relied-on-young-voters/

Point being, not everyone in CA is a Prop 13 supporter, which I thought would be obvious from the context of the thread.

[antiquie]

12. This is why Jerry Brown was against Prop 13

and why many of us voted for the alternative proposition. It was actually Jerry Brown who warned us of these consequences to education if 13 passed.

The people were fooled. It was easier back then and it still happens today.

[marybourg]

13. I find it hard to believe that people were fooled. No one I knew was. What could they possibly

think would happen when they throttled down the flow of money to the best educational system in the country?

[antiquie]

14. I don't know

but why else would people have voted for it?
(Unless we had already lost control of the counting?
No, please, don't send me to Creative Speculation, I'll be quiet.)

[marybourg]

17. Resentment against new people moving in (The shut-the-gate

behind-me syndrome). The fact that many of the kids in elementary school were not the same shade as their children had been when THEY went to those schools, and didn't speak the same language. A rapidly growing state needed lots of costly new infrastructure and they simply didn't think it would benefit THEM enough to want to strap themselves by paying for it.

[antiquie]

18. I see.

I am one of those who gets accused of not always voting in her own best interest. My son was in private school at a time when there was no tax credit, so like everyone else, I was paying for public school, and like some, also paying for private school. I opposed 13 because I thought preserving good schools was in the common best interest and therefore mine; it was the way I was raised.

[marybourg]

21. Well, if more people had voted like you, 2 generations of California children

would have been in in better condition than they seem to be now ( and this thread may itself be evidence for that assertion, if you're reading up-thread at all).

[KamaAina]

4. And Utah has abnormally large class sizes

thanks to all those big Mormon families. For whatever reason, the LDS Church has never set up a Catholic-style school system. So naturally per-pupil spending will be low.

To borrow a phrase from Louisiana, "Thank God for Nevada!".

[Le Taz Hot]

8. 'Member when Jerry Brown Announced Recently

that our deficit is projected to be gone by the end of the year? This is one of the ways that was achieved -- taking monies away from public schools and colleges.

[antiquie]

10. Jerry did not do it.

Please explain why you are blaming Jerry Brown. Once again, he has saved the California state budget. The figures in the OP are from 2010. There are many reasons for what happened to our school system, but Gov. Brown is not one of them that I know of.

The governor does recommend adding $125 million to both the state university and the state college system. As part of that, Brown wants colleges and universities to cap the number of classes students can take.

The governor also is recommending an additional $2.7 billion for local schools and community colleges, increasing the total education budget to $56 billion, the Bee reported.

As part of that extra funding, Brown is asking for a financial overhaul of the California school system, according to the Bee.
State Superintendent Tom Torlakson said he believes the governor is on the right track.

“The governor’s budget proposal keeps the promise we made to Californians who supported Proposition 30 and wisely begins to restore some of what our schools have lost. It will take years to bring our education system back to financial health and I applaud the governor for beginning that work in earnest," said Torlakson.

He added, “I admire the governor’s determination to move forward with an overhaul of California’s confusing system of school finance and I share his desire to direct more help to students and schools with the greatest needs. At the same time, I remain concerned about the fragile fiscal state of so many school districts and preserving state priorities. I look forward to examining details of the governor’s proposal and working closely with the education community throughout this challenging process.”
Assemblymember Bob Wieckowski (D-Fremont), who represents the 25th Assembly District, also applauded Brown for some parts of his budget proposal.

“The governor’s budget shows much progress has been made in getting California’s deficits under control. We are increasing our investments in K-12 and higher education and that will benefit our economy and our future workforce," Wieckowski said in a statement. "Just two years ago, we were facing a $25 billion shortfall. Now, although we are not out of the woods yet, our fiscal condition is in much greater shape."

more http://fremont.patch.com/articles/governor-unveils-balanced-budget-44c75f18