Education

Education is the primary prevention program. Unfortunately, as the government spends less and less on education, only the wealthy can afford it. As the "haves" gain more education, the "have-nots" are left in worse and worse predicaments.

The problem appears to be spiraling out of control: The more money is spent on the prison system, the less can be spent on education; the less spent on education, the more the less-educated there will be in the population; the more there are less-educated in the population, the more crime will increase; and the more crime increases, the more prisons need to be built. At some point, we have to end the cycle.

The following are some statistics and comments from books and articles on the costs of education. PLEASE SEND US NEW DATA AND ARTICLES IF YOU HAVE THEM.

	California ranks 50th among states in education funding
	California ranks last in ratio of staff to students.
	Nearly one in ten students will be turned away from California's community colleges in the next decade.
	1994 tuition and fees more than 100 percent of 1976
	College debt has doubled in 5 years for Californians.
	Graduation incentives for high risk youths to decrease crime 3 to 4 times more than 3-Strikes law
	Education funding so bad in California that bathrooms are not properly cleaned.
	California's fourth-graders tie for last, with Louisiana, in reading.
	Enrollments at California's colleges continue to rise
	72% would rather have money for education than for 3-Strikes.
	12% rise in students seen in L.A.
	California expecting a 30% increase in college enrollment in the next 10 years.
	UC Admissions show dramatic drops in minorities.
	Latinos, African-Americans and Native Americans have only a 54% graduation rate from California high schools.
	Nearly 3 in 10 Latinos are not finishing high school, while 97.4% of California Catholic school graduates go on to two- or four- year colleges.
	Portable school rooms leads to toxic problems with students
	Alternative schools help kids who would normally slip through academic cracks.
	Other countries starting to surpase U.S. in advanced education

California ranks 50th among states in education funding

In the second annual rating of the nation's public schools by Education Week, a Washington-based weekly, California's marks fell slightly, from B- to C+ in teacher quality and from D- to F in school climate and funding. The 270-page study, funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts, said that California's middling to failing performance can be traced in large part to a problem seen across the nation--struggling urban schools that have far more poor students and underqualified teachers than their counterparts in suburban and rural areas.

See LA Times, 1/8/98

In more recent rankings (1996-97), the expenditures per pupil for the U.S. average was $6,495 and California was $5,584 (rank of 37th).  LA Times 5/17/98.

California ranks last in ratio of staff to students.

*Includes the District of Columbia

LA Times 5/17/98.

Nearly one in ten students will be turned away from California's community colleges in the next decade.

Nearly one in ten students will be turned away from California's community colleges in the next decade because of an enrollment boom and wobbly state finances that fail to provide enough classroom space, according to a report released July 20, 1998 by a high-powered independent panel.

That's about 75,000 fewer students in a 106-college system specifically created to provide a gateway to higher education for even the most needy and poor California residents--single working mothers, recent immigrants and people trying to get off welfare.

"The people who would be hurt the most would be the people most in need of an education," said Kenneth Yglesias, president of Golden West College in Huntington Beach. OCRegister, 7/21/98.

1994 tuition and fees more than 100 percent of 1976

"If appropriate steps are not taken, higher education could become so expensive that millions of students will be denied access. Average real tuition per student, adjusted for inflation, approximately doubled in the 20 years from 1976 to 1995. Figure 13 shows that if it doubles again in the next 20-year period (1996 to 2015), about 6.7 million students will be priced out of the system. In other words, about one out of every two people we would expect to seek a college education will not be able to pay for it. Even if tuition increases by only 25 percent over the 20 years, one out of five students will be excluded." Rand Corporation, 1997.

"In 1995 dollars, higher education will have to spend about $151 billion in 2015 to serve future students if costs continue to grow at current rates. Assuming that public appropriations to higher education continue to follow current trends, government funding will be about $47 billion in that year. Tuition, grants, and endowment income will account for another $66 billion. In other words, the higher education sector will face a funding shortfall of about $38 billion--almost a quarter of what it will need." Rand Corporation, 1997.

College debt has doubled in 5 years for Californians.

College debt has doubled for California's families over a five-year period, according to a study released June 23, 1997 by the California Higher Education Policy Center. OC-Register, 6/24/97.

Graduation incentives for high risk youths to decrease crime 3 to 4 times more than 3-Strikes law

Taking into account many factors, it is estimated to cost between $12,000 and $16,000 per year under the 3-Strikes law to decrease one serious criminal act; however, it is estimated to cost only $4,000 per year using graduation incentives of targeted high-risk youths to decrease one serious criminal act. And, these amounts do not take into account the injustice of over-punishing the non-violent offenders that results from California's 3-Strikes. Rand Corporation, 1996.

Education funding so bad in California that bathrooms are not properly cleaned.

On April 24, 1998, officials said that keeping bathrooms clean is a problem in California schools because they're too costly to maintain.  In addition, school officials are spending their funds on portables for rapidly increasing enrollments.

A lawsuit filed against the Buena Park School District alleges unsanitary conditions at Arthur F. Corey School.  Connie Alverez of La Palma said her daughter, 8, became ill because the bathroom does not provide soap, paper towels or tissue.  OCRegister, 4/25/98.

California's fourth-graders tie for last, with Louisiana, in reading.

The Los Angeles Times ran a three-part series titled "Public Education: California's Perilous Slide" which sites many of the problems with California's education system.  The following are some of the facts stated in the series:

California's fourth-graders tie for last, with Louisiana, in reading.   Eighth-graders lag a full year behind in science.  Half the high school graduates need remedial help when they enter state colleges.  Even the children of college graduates trail their counterparts across the country.

California's school libraries have fewer books per student than anywhere else in the country, its students fewer counselors.  LATimes, 5/17/98.

Enrollments at California's colleges continue to rise

For the third straight year, California's public college enrollments continue to rise. Community colleges increased by 4.3%, Cal State campuses by 4% and the elite University of California campuses by only 1%. The cause is said to be the 2nd baby boom that is coming through.

"Pick your metaphor: the tip of the iceberg, the first line on the graph. And we're bursting at the seams now on many of our campuses," said CSU Chancellor Barry Munitz.

At some schools there isn't enough money to hire enough professors to teach enough classes to accommodate all the new students. "California has put its entire higher education system in a mode where anybody who wants to can get in," Rick Moore, UC-San Diego spokesman said. "And we're coming to a time where that may no longer be possible."

The University of California is shouldering the least burden. And that will probably continue because it is the most expensive and exclusive of the public systems--and thus accepts the fewest students. LATimes, 9/22/97.

72% would rather have money for education than for 3-Strikes.

72% of those polled by the Los Angeles Times indicated that they would not support taking money from universities to pay for the cost of three-strikes. Vincent Schiraldi.

12% rise in students seen in L.A.

Annual countywide enrollment projections predict 12% growth by the year 2005--to 1.7 million students--the equivalent of 20,000 additional students annually.

Because birth rates have reached a record high of about 200,000 babies annually in Los Angeles County, even the slowing of immigration into the region in recent years has not reversed the burgeoning numbers of students showing up at the school doors.

"They need to get across to the public the need for more schools and the need for more [school construction] bond measures to pass," said demographer Jim Parker. LATimes, 11/1/97.

California expecting a 30% increase in college enrollment in the next 10 years.

See OC-Register, 1/8/98.

UC Admissions show dramatic drops in minorities.

Early admission records show that three University of California campuses had dramatic declines in the number of blacks, Hispanics and American Indians admitted as freshman for the fall of 1998, the first class to be considered since the UC stopped using affirmative action guidelines.

UC Irvine, UC San Diego and UC Davis showed sharp declines in the number of blacks, Hispanics and American Indians compared with last year even as the number of ethnic minority student applications was up substantially, the UC reported Monday.

At UCSD, 45 percent fewer blacks were admitted for the fall, 31 percent fewer Hispanics, and 37 percent fewer American Indians. White student admissions also declined 9.8 percent and Asian Americans declined 3.2 percent.

At UCD, 36 percent fewer blacks were admitted, 20 percent fewer Hispanics, 18 percent fewer American Indians, and 9.8 percent fewer whites. Only Asian Americans showed an increase, 8.3 percent.

At UCI, 8.6 percent fewer Hispanics were admitted, 19 percent fewer blacks, 14 percent fewer American Indians, 10 percent fewer whites, and 1.5 percent fewer Asian Americans.

UCLA and UC Berkeley, the system's most impacted campuses, do not plan to release freshmen admissions figures until early next month. Earlier studies showed both campuses predicted drops of 50 percent to 70 percent in black and Hispanic student admissions.  The Associated Press, 3/17/98.

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Update as of May 1998:

The number of blacks planning to enroll at University of California campuses has dropped by 24% and the number of Latinos by 5% in the first year after the state's premier public universities abolished racial preferences in admissions.

At UC Berkeley only 98 African Americans will join 3,562 other students who have agreed to register as freshmen in the fall--a 62% drop from the prior year.  Latinos had a 46% drop from the prior year.  UCLA also showed significant declines in black and Latino students who will join its freshmen class: Of the 4,267 entering freshmen, only 131 are African American--a 40% drop compared to last year--and 458 are Latino, a 24% drop.  LATimes, 5/21/98.

Latinos, African Americans and Native Americans have only a 54% graduation rate from California high schools.

California's overall high school graduation rate was only 65% in 1998 (10% less than in 1978) and was only 54% for Latinos, African Americans and Native Americans in 1996.   LATimes, 5/17/98.

Nearly 3 in 10 Latinos are not finishing high school, while 97.4% of California Catholic school graduates go on to two- or four- year colleges.

At a time when nearly three in 10 Latinos are not finishing high school, 97.4% of California Catholic school graduates go on to two- or four-year colleges, Catholic school figures show. A large number of those are Latinos, considering that 29% of California's 251,478 Catholic schoolchildren are Latino. LATimes, 8/3/98.

Portable school rooms leads to toxic problems with students

An environmental group has dubbed California's burgeoning number of portable school classrooms "glue boxes," and while the label surely is designed to stir worries about students being forced to sniff noxious fumes in school, it is difficult to dismiss as mere hype. A state-commissioned panel of scientists, school officials and environmental health specialists has raised similar concerns -- albeit in slightly less alarmist language -- that have been left unaddressed in the 10 months since it issued its troubling findings. Sac Bee, 6/16/99

Alternative schools help kids who would normally slip through academic cracks.

Hillview named a 1998 California Continuation Model School.  The primary goal at Hillview is to help kids who might slip through the academic cracks build self-confidence, finish up their credits and find a focus for their lives.

Classes are taught seven periods a day, two more than traditional schools, and the school year is divided into quarters, which means students can earn credits faster and catch up with their peers.  Teaching methods vary according to the student.   Some do better with the traditional continuation philosophy of working independently.  Others are engaged by the less traditional classes, which take advantage of their verbal skills.

Art Salas, a 17-year-old senior from Santa Ana, said that while he once was on a path leading to a life on probation, he now wants to be a probation officer.  "I was going the wrong way, listening to the wrong people," said Salas, who anticipates graduating.  "I'd probably be in prison or somewhere by now . . . Teachers here told me to come in on my own time for extra help.  No teacher ever did that for me before."  LATimes, 5/18/98.

Other countries starting to surpase U.S. in advanced education

California has been in the lower rankings of education in the U.S.--and the U.S. is slipping in education as compared to other countries. What does this say about the future of California?

A major new international study, released Nov. 23, 1998, by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in Paris, shows that American high school graduation rates, for generations the highest in the world, have slipped below those of most industrialized countries.

For example, in 1990, the average number of years an American 5-year-old was expected to attend high school or college was the world's highest, 16.3. In 1996, the latest year for which data was available, the American score was 16.8, but 11 other countries, including Canada, Spain and Finland, had surpassed that number.

In addition, the report found that the United States devoted a smaller percentage of its national income to teacher salaries than other countries. "Other Countries Catching Up to U.S. In Education, Study Finds," by Ethan Bronner, NYTimes, 11/24/98.

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Date last modified: 7/1/99.