Research Paper on California Public Education
The California State Public Education System:
Can it live up to current demands?
"All who have meditated on the art of governing mankind have been convinced that the fate of empires depends on the education of youth."
-Aristotle-
It has been said many times that children are our future. That is a scary thought considering our lack of investment as a people in that future, for without a solid base of education now the bright future we hope for may never come to fruition. This Paper will look at the current state of the Public Education System of the Sate of California. It will focus on the breakdown of the current system looking specifically at the following issues: Lack of Funding for the System, Lack of Qualified Teaching Personnel, and issues caused by Diversity in the Educational System. Through the use of primary and secondary research tools we will analyze the current state of the system and look at possible remedies to said issues.
Lack of Funding
According to the California Department of Education's Statistics overall spending for education over the last five years have shown an upward trend in spending for schools. Over the last five years spending for education has gone up by 28% (California Department of Education). It went from an average expenditure per student of $4570.00 to $6360.00 (California Department of Education). Though over the last five years spending has headed in the right direction it has not done so in a fast enough manner. The average rate of growth for the educational budget has been 8.6% (California Department of Education) a year over the last five years. This is barely above the rate of growth of enrollment of 6%(California Department of Education). We are not moving forward in fact it would seem like we are treading water. With the upcoming cuts in educational spending for the 2003-2004 school year we will actually be losing ground.
Though average expenditure per student has gone up it still is not in line with other states.
Can it live up to current demands?
"All who have meditated on the art of governing mankind have been convinced that the fate of empires depends on the education of youth."
-Aristotle-
It has been said many times that children are our future. That is a scary thought considering our lack of investment as a people in that future, for without a solid base of education now the bright future we hope for may never come to fruition. This Paper will look at the current state of the Public Education System of the Sate of California. It will focus on the breakdown of the current system looking specifically at the following issues: Lack of Funding for the System, Lack of Qualified Teaching Personnel, and issues caused by Diversity in the Educational System. Through the use of primary and secondary research tools we will analyze the current state of the system and look at possible remedies to said issues.
Lack of Funding
According to the California Department of Education's Statistics overall spending for education over the last five years have shown an upward trend in spending for schools. Over the last five years spending for education has gone up by 28% (California Department of Education). It went from an average expenditure per student of $4570.00 to $6360.00 (California Department of Education). Though over the last five years spending has headed in the right direction it has not done so in a fast enough manner. The average rate of growth for the educational budget has been 8.6% (California Department of Education) a year over the last five years. This is barely above the rate of growth of enrollment of 6%(California Department of Education). We are not moving forward in fact it would seem like we are treading water. With the upcoming cuts in educational spending for the 2003-2004 school year we will actually be losing ground.
Though average expenditure per student has gone up it still is not in line with other states.
Cited: California Department of Education "Educational Demographics Office Public School Summary Statistics 1997-2001." 19 May 2003. Kerper Mora, Jill. "Staying the Course in Times of Change." JOURNAL OF TEACHER EDUCATION, Nov 2000 v51 i5 p345 National Center for Educational Statistics "NAEP State Profile California." 19 May 2003. National Center for Educational Statistics "NAEP State Profile District of Columbia." 19 May 2003. National Center for Educational Statistics "NAEP State Profile New Jersey." 19 May 2003. National Center for Educational Statistics "NAEP State Profile New York." 19 May 2003.