Posted on by Californiacontrarian

Perhaps Some Hope ?

One of the continuing ongoing dilemmas  in California has to do with the overall education of its school children. Let’s be honest here. The problem of suboptimal el-hi education is a nationwide problem. It is worse in cities, and especially bad in big cities run by Democrats. Be that as it may, this is not the time or the place to argue politics as the focus should be on the children, who realistically do not have much of a chance in today’s society without an education. Some states are attempting to combat this issue by offering some variant of school choice in order to tackle the problem. However, one can be close to 100% sure that the concept of school choice will not see the light of day in California, mainly because of the close association of the Democrats in Sacramento and the teacher’s unions. Oops, again, as this is about educating the children and not politics … mea culpa.

As most of you are probably already aware, I have nothing but contempt for the policies of California’s Governor, Gavin Newsom, mainly because most of them do nothing to advance the well-being of the state. Oops, there I go again … mea culpa again

However, I must admit that his latest budget proposal to add $300 million for low income schools is a step in the right direction. Perhaps, there is some hope! This $300 million is somewhat of a take-off on a bill proposed last year by Assemblywomen Akita Weber (D,San Diego), which, in essence, was aimed at funneling more money to Black students. Apparently, Newsom convinced Ms. Weber that proposal would be unconstitutional, and so now the $300 million would be distributed to schools which have a very high percent of its students receiving meals at school. This assures that this $300 million will go to the schools which are attempting unsuccessfully, I might add, to educate poorer children.

Why was Ms. Weber trying to focus on the education of Black children? 

In recent state data in tests of standards for English Language Arts 70% of Black students failed to meet standards, while 84% of Black students did not meet the math standards. … Horrible, Disgusting, Embarrassing!It’s no wonder that Ms. Weber saw the need to do something ! However, somewhat hidden in the recent state data was the fact that less than 40% of White children failed to meet the English Language Arts standards, and about 50% did not meet the math standards … also horrible, disgusting, embarrassing! 

While it is obvious that these poorly educated Black children have little or no chance of future success, the outlook for a lot of White school children in California is only marginally better. While $300 million is a step in the right direction, surely Gavin and his cadre of Democrats in Sacramento can do better. Do better not only in terms of money, but also in terms of setting some standards that will do more to ensure success for both Black and White California school children.

4/24/23

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