Raising per-pupil spending in California to the national average?

By Linh K. Dao

Yes, although more money spent per pupil does not necessarily mean better education for the children.

Children need to have a loving and nurturing environment and good relationships with their parents to do well in school. In addition to raising per-pupil spending, we also need to have policies that allow parents to spend family time with and have closer supervision of their children, be it to help with school work or whatever. Parents who have to spent hours commuting to and from work, for example, would certainly be too tired to even pay attention to their kids by the time they get home and through with dinner in the evening.

The quality of our future work force is directly proportional to the quality of our childrens' education. In addition to federal funding, we also need to promote good and strong partnerships between schools and industries. High-tech companies have a vested interest in the quality of our work force and therefore should and would have an active role in helping our schools succeed.