California kids cant read despite billions in spending

I was an art mom and a PE mom before I was a school district president and candidate for state superintendent of public instruction.When my daughters were in elementary school, parents were constantly told if we didn’t step up, our kids would go without.They told us directly that there wasn’t enough money.I believed it.

But I shouldn’t have.Morning Report delivers the latest news, videos, photos and more.

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Never miss a story.California spends more than $150 billion a year on education.

More than $22,000 per student, annually, statewide.Ironically, despite all that spending, California’s kids have been no better for it.

More than half of the Golden State’s children can’t read, write or do math at grade level. And it’s not a matter of throwing more money at the problem.Rather, it’s a failure of priorities, accountability and leadership.

Billions are funneled into educational fads without the data to back up their efficacy.Funds are further swallowed by pet projects and bureaucratic excess.Meanwhile, teachers are too inundated by paperwork to make a difference, while administrators are often stripped of authority.

Basic discipline, essential for any productive learning environment, has become a battle.All the while, schoolchildren — who depend on the educational system to lead them to a better future — keep falling further and further behind.As to the people in charge of this system, they always seem to have an answer for everything.That is, they have an answer for everything, except for the question that actually matters: Why doesn’t the system work?Even college professors have pulled the alarm about students arriving at college woefully unprepared, requiring remedial English and math.Just think about that.

After 12 years in California’s public schools, students arrive on campus years ...