"Some folks tend to take our schools for granted, a few people might even see them as glorified baby sitters or day-care centers.
But consider, for just a moment, the realities of a typical school district in today’s economy. We ask schools — demand, really — to give our kids a decent education, preparing young people for the real world of adults and careers, while at the same time coping with deep budget cuts.
Wedged in between the myth and reality of public education are the day-to-day issues. Taxpayers want better results, at the same time many classrooms are packed with kids who are just in the early stages of learning the English language
Parents demand the best for children, at the same time many teachers are torn between the idealism of planting useful knowledge in young minds, and the practicality of finding a job that actually pays enough to support a family.
At the same time, school district officials struggle to find a way to keep kids from dropping out and declining enrollment in certain regions — problems that only exacerbate the funding reductions caused by California’s long and persistently intractable recession."
