86. Education

This posting might be a bit redundant, but that's ok, because it's necessary. The state of education in California is nothing short of a complete and utter disaster. And as someone that works in education I am frustrated by this disaster on an hourly basis.

As a mother of children that go to a public elementary school, as a wife of a public elementary school teacher, and as a teacher that works in the state community college system literally education has become my life. I hear an earful of complaints from friends, family members, colleagues, and acquaintances and while I have suggestions, I have no answers. But I do have a wish... I hope that this disaster has made enough people pissed off that they take action. Generally I think we have become complacent and accept what hand we are dealt. I don't believe that we have to settle for this current state of education. But we can learn from the past issues and poor judgement and build a better system.

I have heard a lot of people that seem to be waiting for the economy to get better. Yes, much of the California education problems are due to the bad budget. But before the budget crisis California was next to last in spending per student, before the budget crisis only 50% of LAUSD high school students graduated, and before the budget crisis the community college system was struggling with hundreds of thousands of kids that don't have basic educational skills coming out of high school. The budget crisis didn't make this mess, but it has sure highlighted and aggravated it. But now the problem is so visible and part of so many dinner table conversations, now is the time to motivate and make change.