THIS YEAR'S ANNUAL survey by the Public Policy Institute of California assessing the public's views on K-12 education reveals some disturbing trends but also could be used to improve the state's schools.
According to the PPIC survey 62 percent of Californians believe there is not enough state funding going to their public schools. That's an increase of 12 percentage points since last year. Also, 62 percent say the are very concerned about further cuts in K-12 education because of the budget deficit.
What concerns Californians most about school funding cuts is laying off of teachers, with 92 percent saying they are very concerned or somewhat concerned about it.
More than half of those surveyed are very upset about larger class sizes, fewer days of school and elimination of art and music programs.
Californians also are concerned that public schools are not preparing students for college or the workforce. The survey showed 53 percent think schools are not so good or poor at getting students ready for college and 64 percent say schools are not good or poor at preparing students for jobs.
These results might be even worse if more of those surveyed realized that California ranks near the bottom in student achievement as measured by standardized tests and that California now ranks 43rd among the states in per-student spending. Only 49 percent of those surveyed knew how poorly student performance
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was and just 37 percent thought per-student spending was below the national average.
So who's to blame for problems with California's schools? The survey found Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's approval rating on handling K-12 education is a mere 16 percent. The Legislature's approval rating on K-12 education is worse, at 15 percent.
A sizable majority (63 percent) of Californians most want to protect K-12 education from further budget cuts. That