As of 2009, California officially ranks 47th in the United States in state funding for education. California’s meager $7,571 per student is nearly $2,400 behind the national average. Clearly, something has gone irrevocably wrong, and rewriting our state constitution is the only answer.
The state constitution is so irreversibly misguided that education, which our government claims to uphold as a priority, has been thrown by the wayside. While this crisis has been growing for a very long time, it has reached a point where swift and extreme action must be made.
Our state has gotten into this huge mess by neglecting precious opportunities for money. California hasn’t updated taxes on property that has apperciated in value in recent years. Additionally, the state has chosen not to tax valuable luxury items. This nightmarish budget situation is hurting education.
California state colleges, which were once revered throughout the nation as places for excellent education, have deteriorated. Poor funding has forced many of them to cut departments and majors.
High schools have had to weather an even stronger storm of budget slashes, program cuts and staff reductions. The quality education that Mira Costa has miraculously managed to maintain is a bizzare exception. Recently, the Los Angeles Unified School District had to massively increase class size and nearly eliminate summer school programs. Their newly-proposed parcel tax covering doesn’t cover even a fraction of their multi-million dollar deficits.
Because a district as important and populous as LAUSD has been so devastatingly affected, California’s high school funding and resources can legitimately be labeled as inadequate.
Also, because of the very restrictive California state mandates on special education, it is almost impossible for secondary schools to manage a budget. Some of the funds from these mandates need to become unrestricted so they can be used for the general budget. Although the mandates may seem essential, they are excessive.
The state of California needs to make education the number one priority, just like it promises in our constitution. Many in Sacramento believe that this promise alone will save the state’s education system. However, this is not the case.
California is in need of some extreme, perhaps even radical, changes at every level. Our state has reached a point where the only reasonable option left is to change the system, lest it be irreparably crippled by failed policy and an inefficient constitution.
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