DELAINE EASTIN: California should not be a Scrooge when it comes to educating our young people | The Sacramento Bee

California should not be a Scrooge when it comes to educating our young people | The Sacramento Bee:
California should not be a Scrooge when it comes to educating our young people

At this festive time of year, one of my favorite short stories is “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens. In this story, Dickens reflects on a sour man named Ebenezer Scrooge who finds little joy in any aspect of life and who decries Christmas as a humbug. Then he meets the Ghosts of Christmas past, present and future and his perspective changes. He becomes a kinder, gentler version of himself and finds the capacity to be generous to others.

When I think of Christmas past in California, I think of an amazing generation of Californians emerging from our nation’s worst depression and the world’s most terrible war, and generously investing in K-12 education and in an incredible system of community colleges, state universities and a University of California that were individually and collectively the envy of the nation by 1965.

In the years since 1985, the systems have each suffered disinvestment. Our K-12 schools, which were fifth in per-pupil investment, dropped as low as 50th, but now linger around 42nd, adjusted for the cost of living in California. Our community colleges were free until 30 years ago, and the modest fees charged for CSU and UC have skyrocketed.

Sixteen states have mandatory kindergarten, but some California leaders say we cannot afford it. Preschool is more readily available not only in other affluent states like New York and Connecticut, but also in historically undereducated states like Georgia and Oklahoma. California is tragically underinvested in preschool.

Our child development services are inadequate and while we have First 5, remember it wasCalifornia should not be a Scrooge when it comes to educating our young people | The Sacramento Bee: