Leave-taking isn't easy. As I write the final column of my term of office, I am very much aware of how much needs to be said and done to enhance public education in California. How can it all be said, ever?
But I must leave a last message for you, the one message I want you to take to heart and never forget. Always remember: California public school teachers and California public schools are the best, and the reason is that, day in and day out, you do an incredible job under very adverse circumstances.
I'm not sure I need to convince you of that, but I want to leave you with enough ammunition for the ongoing battle to protect public education from its opponents. So here are some statistics for you to use in that struggle and to serve as a reminder to you, on bad days, that you are indeed the greatest.
California has surpassed France and become the fifth largest economy in the world, producing goods and services in excess of $1.4 trillion annually. Yet, despite that wealth, California ranks in the bottom 20 percent of states in educational funding. This year the average per-pupil funding in our state was about $6,200, compared with New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, which average almost $11,000 per student. The clear result of that underfunding is overcrowding, and California ranks 49th among the 50 states in class size. The U.S. Department of Education tells us that California "averages" 21.8 students per class, while the national average is 15.4. Of course, you and I know that such a figure is misleading - we'd be only too happy to have just that number of kids per class.
Add to that the fact that California has one administrator for every 11.6 teachers, according to EdSource - wouldn't it be great if that were the teacher-student ratio? Having too many administrators costing money that could and should be spent in the classroom typifies the ongoing problem of unwise spending of available education funds. Right now there is a strong drive to increase class size in grades K-3; if it is successful, California will have the largest class size in the nation. That's not a top position to be proud of.
Aside from funding issues, California education faces another serious problem: 33 percent of our students live below the poverty line. California already holds the top ranking in the country in that regard. Many studies show how poverty destroys a child's chance of getting a quality education no matter how hard the teacher works. I don't know how many homeless kids there are in California, but CNN reported in December 2001 that there were 12,000 homeless kids in New York City. Homeless kids are a scandal in our nation, and a terrible challenge for their teachers.
In addition to poverty, there is the matter of 1.6 million limited or non-English-speaking kids in California schools. Despite their obvious problem, these students are forced to take the CAT-6 test in English. When they inevitably score low, both kids and teachers are branded as failures. In a state that has gone test-crazy, teachers are forced to comply with the CAT-6 and the SAT-9, students are forced to take the tests, and classrooms become test-prep centers instead of educational enterprises. Throw into the mix another 600,000 learning disabled special education students, and you know what happens: the public schools "have failed."
What have actually failed are the tests themselves. They are "norm referenced" tests, so no matter what teachers and kids do, 50 percent of the test takers are doomed to score "below average." You and I know that before the tests are given, we can predict which schools will be shamed by the label of failing: the schools with predominantly English language learner kids, and they're all too frequently the same schools where the kids are living below the poverty line. The kids in those schools are just as smart as any others, and their teachers are just as dedicated and hardworking - but they are all forced to play against a stacked deck.
Yet, despite all of these miserable conditions, California teachers continue to perform miracles and to join their colleagues nationwide in leading the whole world in education. According to U.S. Department of Education figures for 1998, young adults aged 25-34 have a high school graduation rate of 87.9 percent, second only to Japan's 93.5 percent. And the United States is the only country that tries to get every kid to the 12th grade; England's high school graduation rate is 63 percent, France's 75.3 percent. Moreover, for the last 15 years, California and the country as a whole have sent over 65 percent of those graduates to four-year colleges, and that's a number one position in the world that we can be proud of. Those college entrants go on to a B.A. degree at the rate of 31 percent, again placing us number one in the world. Number two is Japan with 23.5 percent, followed by England with 17 percent, France 14.7 percent, and Germany 13.9 percent.
Obviously, our education system is achieving a high level of success despite its problems - and that is because we also have the best teachers in the world. Right-wing propaganda that claims our schools are failing is just that - propaganda - aimed at scaring Americans into abandoning public education to the drive for vouchers. Our teachers make California's underfunded, overcrowded, poorly administered schools work, and work well. You face your challenges with mind and heart, toil and time; teaching for you is never just a job. You are the engine that drives the whole system, and you are the best. I know it and I want you to remember it.
I thank you for your letters, e-mails and comments of support for my column that you have given me. They have helped me to stay on track, to remember that my job has been to speak for you and the kids you teach, to help you strengthen our public school classrooms and nourish our profession. It has been an honor to represent California teachers for the past four years. Thank you, God bless you, and farewell.
