California Has Most Failing Schools in Nation

By Simone Wilson Thu., May 12 2011 at 12:30 PM

PHOTO BY TED SOQUI

Only 3 percent of kids at McKinley Elementary in Compton will go to college one day

Here, we'll give you the good news first: The U.S. Department of Education is handing out $3.5 billion to America's worst-performing schools this year! And lord (slash Obama) knows they need it.

However, upon reviewing the list of public schools eligible to receive a School Improvement Grant (SIG) -- or, the most horrid black holes of non-education from sea to shining sea -- we came across some unsettling, if unsurprising, data.

California leads the nation by a longshot [Spotted at Mother Jones].

The National Center for Education Evaluation used the following criteria to determine which schools were eligible for the grants:

(1) A school's overall academic achievement level (2) whether there is a "lack of progress" in the school, and (3) for high schools, whether the school has a graduation rate below 60 percent.

Of 15,277 schools deemed eligible across 49 states, a brain-draining 2,720 are located in California. And we can't even blame it on the fact that we're the largest U.S. state, because our percentage of underperforming schools is right up there in the Top 5 as well.

(Washington D.C. does take a landslide win/loss in that respect; over 50 percent of its schools qualified for grants. Ouch. How fitting, though, that America's most polarized division between capitalist politics and the poverty they create is on display in the Capitol, no?)

In the end, only 96 failing California schools were awarded a federal grant, including nine in the Los Angeles Unified School District. So what about the other 2,624?

Well, we could start by convincing Republican legislators to preserve some semblance of proper education funding -- or at least to let us vote to pay for it ourselves.

Even then, though, classroom curriculums need a major shakeup. The teachers union and schools like Huntington Park High may be resistant to reform, but if we don't try something new soon... well, our prisons will probably implode and China will probably employ us all in sweatshops one day soon. Yet here we are, spending our time fighting stuff like awesome street art and well-loved skate ramps. Sigh.

[@simone_electra/swilson@laweekly.com]

Tags:

Department of Education, failing schools, Jerry Brown, School Improvement Grants, school reform, teachers

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Gllper

The schools are failing because the State is run mainly by liberals of the Democrat Party of which the Teacher's Unionis a good chunk of it. We need to elect Conservatives into office who are people of faith and principled character.

alternative investments san fr

Very useful info. Hope to see more posts soon!

Aw Jones

Demographics, demographics, demographics.

Oh, and that sweatshops bit -- I don't know if you all have noticed, but LA already has a 'garment industry' where three decades ago it didn't.

Bob Gilbert

All praise to Lord/Obama for rewarding failure by giving more money to schools that aren't performing (rather than to those that are succeeding - although I agree it's primarily the students - and not the facilities, the teachers or the curriculum - that make or break a school.) And its not surprising that at the epicenter of big government where no failure goes unrewarded by another federal grant, the schools/students are in the worst shape of all.

Nova Fields

@1b98a207af991fdf414503ec61f6f248:disqus you're completely pissing on the essence of education. just because illegal immigrants and others are a large portion of the population does not pre-determine their academic destiny. yes, there are obstacles but society has failed them. children are not born as fuckups, the adults have a responsibility to make them productive members of society. so we can either piss on the system and call deem them a lost cause or encourage and motivate the less fortunate and instill them with confidence more than with "fuck the po-lice" mentality. English is the primary language spoken in this country so this does need to be enforced but not chastised for being "Un American." you're completely pissing on the essence of education. just because illegal immigrants and others are a large portion of the population does not pre-determine their academic destiny. yes, there are obstacles but society has failed them. children are not born as fuckups, the adults have a responsibility to make them productive members of society. so we can either piss on the system and call deem them a lost cause or encourage and motivate the less fortunate and instill them with confidence more than with "fuck the po-lice" mentality. English is the primary language spoken in this country so this does need to be enforced but not chastised for being "Un American."

Rick Abrams

These statistics are similar to others over the years. Los Angeles and Oakland are the worse education districts in the state. California is about 48th in the nation, and the nation ranks 17th (math) and 34th (reading) in the world.

When I came to California in 1964, I was shocked by two things; (1) California high school grads attending the top California private colleges (Independent Colleges of Southern California, e.g Occidental, Pomona, Whittier, etc.) had the equivalent of a 10th grade education in New York State's Regents program, (2) what I thought was yellow journalism and a disgrace on news stands was the LA Times and no one knew that it was trash. Thus, California has had abysmally low standards for decades.

My wife taught for the LAUSD during the 1970's and the district was run by racist cretins.

I heard that the State Jr. Colleges were very good. I saw very little of them, but what I saw of LACC supported that claim.

Last year, California voters passed Prop 22 which took about $1.2 Billion per year away from education and gave it to real estate speculators. The passage of Prop 22 is not so important for the actual dollars lost, but for the mindset of Californians. They will divert billions of tax dollars from education to real estate fraudsters. The problem is not the schools or the students, but Californians themselves.

Teresa Knodle

Level the playing field. Give every student in the US California's tests. Part of the "failure" of California's students is the high standards and difficulty of the CSTs. Department of Education and the committee developing the Common Core standards pointed out only California and DC had standards that approached what will be the new national standards in a few years.

becut

"Failing Schools", what a twist of words. The schools are not failing, the students are failing to do do the work. Schools don't give grades, students earn them. Schools are only a reflection: ca. spends 1/2 of the state of NY per student; #1 in illegal immigrants and anchor babies; 3rd world culture that continues to make more and more babies with no language support from home with Eng. only curriculum.

Stclairtrish

At one time Ca led the country in education, affording California's children an affordable and quality higher education. People flocked here from other states and countries. The investment brought the best minds in technology, that makes our lives easier and more productive today. Our University hospitals rank among the best in the country, with the University of CA San Francisco in the top 10 cancer treatment centers.

The reasons for our budget crisis are many, & no one thing will fix it. But despite it all, this is a state of hard working & proud people who have accomplished a great deal within our society. And despite our financial woes, we continue to contribute more in federal taxes than we get back, subsidizing many poor states. We'll be just fine in the long run. Not to worry.