Walters: California schools need leaders’ attention more than money

Historically the annual process of writing a state budget has often stumbled over how much money California should spend on its masses school system and its nearly million students However as Gov Gavin Newsom and legislative leaders negotiate a final budget for the - fiscal year dealing with a multi-billion-dollar deficit they have only small disagreements on school finance Both Newsom s latest budget and the Legislature s alternative draft would peg state spending on schools at billion including transitional kindergarten a new schooling subcategory That s billion less than the current budget allocates but with anticipated increases in training s share of local property taxes total spending would remain roughly even With schools off the table politically Newsom and legislators are wrangling over more contentious issues particularly the reductions in medicinal and social services for poor elderly and disabled Californians that Newsom seeks to close the budget gap The comity on school spending however shuns a debate that California s politicians should be having what to do about the system s chronically subpar academic achievement This week the Constituents Initiative Institute of California issued a timely reminder that there s been little progress and various regression in such basic skills as reading and mathematics with wide gaps among students tied to family income ethnicity and other socioeconomic factors In an analysis of state academic tests that were administered last year PPIC researchers published that fewer than half of all students met or exceeded state standards in English Language Arts while about a third did so in math The analysis also ascertained that proficiency rates were highest among Asian students just above in English and nearly two-thirds in math White students rates were lower with meeting the standard in English and in math Proficiency rates were lower on average for Black and Latino students and in English respectively and and in math Also girls fared much better than boys in English And proficiency in basic skills among low-income students is scarcely half that of those from moderate- or high-income families To cap it off PPIC notes that California students rates of proficiency in federal tests continue to lag behind those of other states None of these findings is unexpected California students have been lagging behind the state s expectations and national norms for a great number of years even as spending on the school system has continued to climb to well over a year per pupil from state aid local property taxes and federal subventions One would think that California s stubbornly mediocre at best instruction outcomes would sit atop the political agenda given their negative effects on students and the state as a whole Related Articles Letters Phonics alone won t get California s kids reading Mt Diablo district agents unexpectedly reverse plan to oust oversight commissioners Art competition in South Bay schools aims to unplug students from devices Review California s teaching candidates may be missing key math training Former Monterey County elementary school music professor convicted of lewd acts with minors However the Capitol s discussions of teaching usually start and end with how much money schools should receive when it s obvious that school finances while crucial are just one factor in outcomes There are a few signs of progress on those other factors such as a latest agreement to encourage local school systems to use phonics in teaching elementary students how to read the the bulk essential of all academic skills While the state is stopping short of mandating phonics as a great number of mentoring experts advise it s a step forward that more or less declares a winner in the very long debate over methodology that s been dubbed reading wars However there s also been specific regression As PPIC notes in its assessment the state Board of Schooling which tends to reflect the teaching establishment s priorities has adopted new definitions of academic test proficiency that could obscure embarrassingly low results For instance if a scholar scores below grade level their performance will be labeled Evolving or Minimum Understanding learner scores could be growing more hard PPIC says That s not a good thing Dan Walters is a CalMatters columnist