The State of Education

The following article covers a topic that has recently moved to center stage--at least it seems that way. If you've been thinking you need to know more about it, here's your opportunity.

Those of you not familiar with the latest on Education now have at least a basic understanding. But there's more to come.

The subject of education reform can inspire rhetoric verging on the poetic, replete with pedagogical innovations and experiments that promise the academic and social uplift of struggling students. But the work of improving schools is often anything but lyrical. It's research, collecting data, aligning standards.

This nuts-and-bolts approach to improving schools is largely what Supt. of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell proposed in his State of Education speech Tuesday. And although it may be short on the revolutionary proposals we thought would accompany California's "Year of Education," O'Connell's plan and the work of his education advisors will set the state's schools on course for real reform. If the programs seem somewhat moderate in scope, the larger goals remain ambitious.
For example, California will join 30 other states in the American Diploma Project, aligning academic standards from kindergarten to college. This seems like a no-brainer, but as things stand, the education that students receive in one grade often does not correspond to lessons facing them in the next. At O'Connell's request, all four systems of public education -- K-12, community colleges, California State University and the University of California -- joined by private colleges and the career technical education community, will work together to create a seamless system of expectations.

In effect, O'Connell kicked off the Year of Education ahead of schedule when he called educators to Sacramento in November for a summit addressing the single most crucial issue facing schools: the achievement gap between black and Latino students and their white peers. Furthering that conversation on Tuesday, he announced measures that keep the focus on the gap, including directing the state Department of Education to survey students about their schools' racial environments. What these surveys reveal, and how this information is used, will determine whether this is a feel-good exercise or a catalyst for change. The results of such surveys can be shocking: When Leuzinger High School in Lawndale experienced extreme racial tension in the early 1990s, students stunned school officials by saying that a top concern was the constant use of racial slurs by their teachers.

The projected $14-billion state budget shortfall, unfortunately, has taken much of the fizz out of what was supposed to be an exciting year of education reform. Still, O'Connell and his team have presented a program that calls for little if any new funding but that can still make a difference in the lives of students.

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