Education

By Patty Berg

"California was once the nation's leader in public education. It needs to be again. As the next Assemblywoman from the North Coast, I'll fight to restore school funding putting our children first"
-Patty Berg

Inadequate Funding: California's public school system is under funded, overcrowded and running out of teachers. California ranks 36th nationally and 12% below the national average in funding per student.

Crowded Classrooms/Teacher Shortage: California has the largest class size in the nation, averaging 29.7 children per class. In order to make California schools effective places for children to learn, California will need to recruit 300,000 new teachers in the next 10 years. We must do more to make teaching attractive to the 30 % of teacher college graduates who never teach and reverse trends, which result in nearly a third of new teachers quitting within their first 5 years.

Disadvantaged Youth: Over 25 % of California's children 18 and under live in poverty, and we know that poverty directly impacts school performance. In order to ensure our children's success in school, we must ensure that more children arrive ready to learn. This means ensuring that all students receive childhood immunizations, receive nutritious meals, and have access to adequate health care.

Assessing Success: Funding for California schools is tied to students' performance on certain standardized tests. The STAR program (SAT-9 test) costs the state $65.6 million annually to administer and is used as the sole measure of a student's success. It is given in English to all California public school students in grades 2-11 and compares California students to students nationally. However, children in some districts are unfairly shortchanged by a system that fails to adequately measure student success. The test is not aligned with the curriculum and schools and teachers are rated as to the results based on an Academic Performance Index (API). No alternatives to English language testing exist for one in five California children with limited or no English ability. The result of this system is that students in school districts with higher rates of poverty and English learners fail to receive the financial support they need to improve. In fact, results show that 86% of students in schools who rank in the bottom tenth of schools statewide live in poverty. By contrast, just seven percent of students in the top ten percent of California schools are poor. In addition to the STAR program, there is the high school exit exam, administered for the first time this year to 9th graders, again in English. It tested them on subjects they have not yet studied, i.e., Algebra. It is estimated 60% will fail.

PATTY BERG'S EDUCATION AGENDA:

· Increase state funding for per-pupil expenditures. · Reduce class size in grades 4-12, beginning in low performing schools. · Raise teacher salaries and provide incentives to recruit and retain qualified teachers, especially in low performing schools and schools in remote/ rural areas. · Ensure well-trained and fully credentialed teachers in every classroom. · Fully involve teachers in curriculum development, textbook selection, lesson planning and setting grading standards. · Improve the overall physical condition of all schools. · Increase discretionary funding for schools to allow local districts to develop programs that meet their needs. Decision-making must be done in collaboration with school personnel and members of the community. · Review the funding formula for public schools to ensure remote/rural schools have the necessary operational funding for resources and services. · Launch a statewide early childhood education effort to better prepare children to enter kindergarten ready to learn.

PATTY BERG'S EDUCATION RECORD:

· Teacher and Guest Lecturer, Humboldt State University, 12 years · Developed Humboldt County's first K-12 comprehensive family life education curriculum