Reply to Why does it take so long for cities to gentrify and esp schools to improve?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]California has some of the most poorly funded schools in the nation, despite its wealth. Other states fund schools through property taxes, but California effectively eliminated this as a funding source in the late 1970s, and the cost to infrastructure and education has unfortunately caught up. The schools are either subsidized by parent contributions and local parcel taxes in wealthy areas or are abysmally underfunded in less wealthy areas, with people of means opting out for private or parochial schools.

I think we will see a sea change in the next 10 years, but it's incredibly depressing that the system had to break so dramatically for people to care. California used to have one of the best public education systems in the nation.[/quote]

When I was in elementary school in the Bay Area in the 70s, we had an orchestra, a gifted program with 10 course choices, and a school nurse.  the Prop 13 passed.  Classes were cut, art and music were cut, and library hours were slashed.  At the time, it was generational warfare.  The Boomers had mostly graduated, and their parents no longer cared about schools.

Here in DC, I pay 9.5 percent income taxes.  We have free pre-K starting at age 3, dedicated music and art teachers, a science program, and a health teacher who cooks with the kids.  Every high school in the area offers AP classes, and many schools offer 20+. There are also a lot of public IB programs.  DC and the surrounding suburbs spend more than twice as much per pupil as California.[/quote]

We have good friends who moved from DC to the SF East Bay and were appalled at the public schools that the Bay Area considers "good." I have lived here long enough that I've gotten acclimated to it so don't bat an eye anymore, but it did make me want to cry when they shared their PK3/PK4 experience in DCPS. The CA equivalent to PK4 is only available to kids born in the months of September, October, and November, and has a class size of 24 with one teacher. No PK3 at all except for low-income families (and not even enough spaces for the kids who qualify for that program). No music class at all in many schools, let alone an orchestra. No librarians in many schools, and some don't have libraries at all. The state eliminated the gifted program. Our CA district has one school nurse for every 1600 students.

California has many wonderful assets, but don't move here for the schools unless you're ready to roll up your sleeves and join the fight to fix them.[/quote]

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