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In this Aug 15, 2012 file photo, Gov. Jerry Brown campaigns for Proposition 30, a November ballot...
We must give Gov. Jerry Brown credit, he does not run from difficult subjects. Witness his decision to dive head first into reforming the bizarre and dysfunctional labyrinth that is California's system for parsing out dollars to its schools.
While it didn't take a genius to recognize the need, it did take a bit of political courage and a willingness to get his hands dirty to tackle such a lofty goal.
The governor certainly can't be accused of going after the low-hanging fruit here. If he is serious about this effort, he will be forced to take on the biggest stick in the state Capitol. The education establishment is to Sacramento what the Defense Department is to Washington; lots -- and lots -- of money goes in and little accountability comes out.
The state's rules for funding schools have evolved over the last 40 or so years and they are complex, counterproductive, counterintuitive and enormously confusing.
Just ask anyone who has had to deal with them, they will tell you. But, depending on their perspective, what they might not tell you is that many in the education establishment actually like it that way.
Therein lies the rub with Brown's admirable but, we fear, quixotic venture.
The more arcane and convoluted a system the easier it is to manipulate for the people who actually understand the