The Bayside Performing Arts Center, in San Mateo was sadly only half full as we watched an updated version of Mr. Merrow's documentary "First to Worst: the Roots of California's Education Crisis." This is such an important topic that there should have been SRO, the house should have been packed! Where are the people that care about education.
I am starting with this blog entry because I want to talk about these and related issues. Have we really gone from first to worst? Where is the outrage? And really, what should we do, should the opportunity arise for change?
The documentary that was aired reviews the history of California education in the latter part of the twentieth century. In the 1960's California was viewed as having a well funded, well attended and successful education platform. Society had endured the Depression and World War II and was enjoying an economic boom. They are reported to have invested heavily in education through taxes etc. benefiting the younger generation (the Baby Boomers).
Was California truly the "First" in the nation? The distinction for getting a high quality education depended on race. Even when California was considered at their best it was not universally true for all students.
It was also the time of the civil rights movement. Enough people noticed that there were two different eduction programs in the state. Serrano vs. Priest (a.k.a. sb90) was an effort to change this disparity.
Did it work in the long run? Many decades later and much tinkering with a complex system we still have a system where there are extreme cases of have and have-nots (the latter being the larger group).
Did we go from Worst to Worst? It seems that in an effort to make things better we may really have only gone one step forward and two steps back.
I have watched teachers pitted against local school boards, I listened to teachers complain as education resources dwindle, and I have talked to others teachers coming into the state that can barely recognize anything comparable to the educational system they knew.
Where is the outrage? Sadly, some people do not want things to change. Some have an advantage in the current system. For some the system is jury rigged so that they experience an almost normal public educational scenario. Don't mess with it, they quietly think, it works for me. Otherwise they will have to find another way to jury rig the system. And they may just say, enough. Then the bleeding to private/charter schools may become a flood.
But for the most part it is those older established voters (now the Baby Boomers) who do not see themselves in the new crop of children. They do not see that what they do to the educational system affects the day to day functioning of our society. There are some that want to make government "small enough to drown in a bath tub." It is hard to imagine that some do not want their health care providers, say a nurse, to be able to read their prescriptions correctly. Or the person inspecting their plane to be "highly qualified."
It is unconscionable that one of the wealthiest parts of the world can tolerate having the lowest funded students in this nation. Due to California's two-thirds requirement for raising taxes it is the will of a minority of the voters to have this untenable situation.
Still there are many that want the best for the children of California, whether or not they have children. It is up to them, it is up to all of us, to make the changes we know need to be done.
We who believe that change needs to happen so the children can be supported in their understanding of the world around them need to make the case that education is the beginning, a spring board to better possibilities for them as well as all of us.
What we need now is a bill of rights for students, teachers, and parents. One that calls for action from local, state, and federal authorities. One that attempts to be equitable in a world were resources are always limited. One that lifts the students above the plight of education that we have all endured for too long.
The bright future of California is now our past. We see the result of failed policies. Our prisons are full beyond capacity. Our medical needs exceeds our ability to provide support. We have a huge population of unhealthy adults. We need to change. We need leaders that can call for change. We need to be united or we will be exponentially divided.
