Back in March I commented on some things that Dave Winer said about California Schools. [here]
The main point of the discussion was that the California Public School system is in a near third-world state (with apologies to the oppressed in the third-world) due to the short-sightedness and greed that grew out of Proposition 13.
Today, Tom Foremski chimes in with pretty much the same point. [here]
It is shocking to me that the world’s sixth largest economy can have a public education system that is the shame of the nation. When I explain to people in Massachusetts, when they complain about schools here, that teachers have to ask parents to supply paper towels and toilet paper, they are shocked.
California has a beautiful veneer over a core that is disintegrating and changing rapidly. This morning, I heard a story on NPR [link to follow later] about a South LA school torn apart by racial conflict — latinos against blacks. Many will chalk this up as a city issue, one unique to LA. It’s not. The latino population of California is growing, and the public school system is failing these children.
What to do?
It comes down to one thing — avarice. Until the people of California can overcome their greed, the children of California will wallow in a public education system that is the shame of the industrialized world.