Guest Column
“Much Ado About Nothing” - A Broken Educational System
- By Hector M. Barajas
- After a three-day retreat with fellow Democrats, Fabian Nuñez, the Speaker of the California Assembly, declared that education would be a major priority in the legislature this year.
- If actions speak louder than words, then I’m wondering what it means to make something a priority? Actions would indicate that when looking at the priorities of Democrats, it is “much ado about nothing”.
- For the past several years, Assembly Democrats have declared that education would be a top priority and nothing has changed this year. Assembly Democrats will once again dust off their old talking points and discuss the importance of our children, the educational crisis facing California, and how paying teachers more will yield our State a new crop of highly educated and motivated leaders who will be ready to run the next generations of businesses and industries.
- Our state spends more than $50 billion on education. That investment buys us 48th place in the marketplace of American education.
- Efforts to move us from this failing level of education have been loudly proclaimed and quietly dismantled. While the state was heading into the 2000 election, the state legislature put together an education package the set specific standards for every grade level and required that high school students pass a exit exam that tests their knowledge of eighth grade math and tenth grade English. With little more than half of the questions needing to be answered correctly to pass, all the Democrat members of the current education committee, including the Chair, Jackie Goldberg, voted to eliminate the exit exam in 2005 (a non-election year).
- One would think that representatives with the greatest challenges would demand most loudly for change. Speaker Nuñez however has been one of the loudest proponents against reforming the current broken system and his actions show his true priorities. The UCLA’s Institute for Democracy, Education and Access reports that schools in Nuñez’s district fail their children. Only one-third of all students in his district pass high school, and only 12% have the coursework necessary to attend college.
- Roosevelt High School:
- · 37% of students received a high school diploma in 4 years
· 12% of graduates passed the courses required for admission to CSU and/or UC with at least a C grade - Jefferson High School:
- · 31% of students received a high school diploma in 4 years
· 12% of graduates passed the courses required for admission to CSU and/or UC with at least a C grade - Huntington Park High School:
- · 39% of students received a high school diploma in 4 years
· 7% of graduates passed the courses required for admission to CSU and/or UC with at least a C grade - Garfield High School:
- · 34% of students received a high school diploma in 4 years
· 16% of graduates passed the courses required for admission to CSU and/or UC with at least a C grade - http://www.idea.gseis.ucla.edu/publications/edgap/AD/EdGap-AssemD46.pdf
- There is no justification why our children should be cast aside and allowing Fabian Nuñez and his Democrat Party to hide their failures to reform a broken educational system should not be acceptable to our community.
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- Hector M. Barajas provides political analysis, coordinates Spanish media communication, and serves as the Deputy Political Director for the California Republican Party. Contact at: hbarajas@cagop.org
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