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:: Thursday, May 22, 2008 ::
Save our skoolz!

A lot of things in my life have changed in the five years since I became a parent. Tonight I had a watershed moment in the life of a parent -- my very first PTA meeting (all right, it was a "community forum" not a hardcore PTA meeting, but still... not something that I had ever really pictured myself doing). The forum was a screening of John Merrow's "First to Worst", a documentary about California's public schools, followed by Q&A with a pretty impressive panel of speakers: John Merrow, Marshall Smith, Deborah Stipek, and Delaine Eastin.

It was nice in a lot of ways... well-made documentary, good panelists, engaged parents, free snacks, ample parking, etc. So what was the downside? Well, there was the one crazy older lady next to me in the front row who did *way* too much hissing and booing and talking at inappropriate times during both the movie and the Q&A, but she wasn't the real downer. No, the real downer was the state of near-total paddlelessness for many public schools in the state of California.

Here's the CliffsNotes version. Please note I am by no means an expert on this stuff, this is just what I've gleaned tonight from the forum and from some reading online. Anyway, here's my understanding of the state we're in:
  1. California used to have excellent schools in the 50s and 60s. Some were more excellent than others (I'm looking at you San Dimas), so a class action was taken to, um, level the playing field.
  2. In the 70s, a series of California Supreme Court opinions on Serrano vs. Priest did level the playing field. Unfortunately, the result was revenue limits for each school district, effectively bringing down the level of funding for good schools rather than bringing the poor schools up.
  3. In 1978, Proposition 13 was passed, capping property taxes which severely limited the amount of revenue available for schools at the local level. At that point, the state government became the major source of funds for most schools. Of course, there are lots of, um, challenges getting money from Sacramento.
  4. In the 90s, Pete Wilson championed legislation that limited class size, without any corresponding funding for things which are required to meet that limit... things like classrooms and teachers.
  5. California public school districts remain limited in the ways that they can raise additional funds needed to improve schools:
    • School facilities bond measures: require a 55% vote, reduced from 2/3 by prop 39
    • Parcel tax: a local property tax requiring 2/3 vote... often a tough sell, especially when typically <20% of voters have kids in school
    • Private donations: many foundations have sprung up to provide funding for public school programs like music, art, computers, libraries, etc. Wealthier communities tend to have these foundations, while lower-income districts get whatever the state provides... So much for equality.
The takeaway for me as a Palo Alto parent was that the Palo Alto Unified School District was doing a great job, due to the affluence in our city coupled with the efforts and advocacy of teachers, administrators, parents, and private foundations. Just down the road in much less affluent East Palo Alto, though, it's a different story. And that's a huge bummer, not just for me and other people who have kids, or who care about kids on general principle, but also for our society as a whole. As the panelists put it, the next time you fly on a plane, think about all the public school graduates (mechanics, air traffic controllers, etc.) that you rely on for your safety and well-being. It's a dramatic example, maybe overly so, but the point that we live very interconnected lives is still quite valid. Given the number of kids in the California school system, this is a problem that affects not just people in California, but the entire country.

For more information, here's the list of resources provided at the Palo Alto PTA meeting tonight:In the immortal words of Jeff Spicoli (a graduate of California public schools):
"What Jefferson was saying was, Hey! You know, we left this England place 'cause it was bogus; so if we don't get some cool rules ourselves - pronto - we'll just be bogus too! Get it?"
Don't be bogus, people -- support public schools. And if you live in Palo Alto, vote yes on Measure A on the June 3rd, 2008 ballot.

Class dismissed.

:: Keith 23:00 [link] :: ::