EDUCATION: KEY TO CALIFORNIA'S FUTURE

By Lee J. Pierce

To regain our competitive advantage on the global economic stage, California must re-invest in education and sustain adequate funding levels.

Most of us would agree that a good education is the foundation upon which economic success is built and that global competitiveness demands. Similarly, we would all probably agree that: adequate funding, students, teachers, parents, business and government are all requisite components of any viable education system.

Well then, if we are so smart about the benefits of education to society, why is the State of California getting such a failing grade in our public school system?

Could the answer to this daunting question be: inadequate funding, overcrowded classrooms, under compensated- experienced teachers, low parental involvement, shortage of books & classroom supplies? Or, are there other, more structural, causes of our failing educational system? For example, as a public figure, I'm often asked everything from: why are we teaching to tests to why do we need a State Department of Education, a State Superintendent of Public Instruction, State Secretary of Education, County Superintendents, School District Superintendents, etc? As, you may have guessed, I have not been able to come up with a good answer to any of these questions + one that would fly in today's troubled economy- especially.

Today in California, there is only one other issue that out ranks education, as a single concern and that's joblessness. Our biggest challenge in 2010 will be to stimulate our economy by driving down the existing double digit unemployment rates. To accomplish this challenge, we will need to re-train and re-educate many of our displaced and jobless populations who remain in the labor-ready marketplace by necessity.

Re-training and re-education of workers must involve creation, expansion and maintenance of partnerships amongst key stakeholders (i.e. business, education, labor, environmentalists and local government sectors).

The Sonoma County Workforce Investment Board (WIB), Job Link, Sonoma State University's Engineering program and the Santa Rosa Junior College's Business / Professional Development program are good examples of the right kinds of local collaboration needed to regain our status as a thriving world economy. Supplemental to these efforts, state lawmakers must begin to recognize that education happens at home + not in the costly bureaucratic halls of Sacramento. Law makers must take a fresh look at the budget and where education falls in comparison to other planned spending priorities. The goal should be to add funds to local schools to fund classroom education - knowing the undisputed return on investment - not to take funds away funds from the classrooms in order to sustain or grow the state bureaucracy.

In our recent past, California was the envy of much of the world because of our high quality primary schools and university systems. We were also known for our vast intellectual capital resources. Many high technology and fortune 500 companies like Hewlett-Packard Co., Google, Yahoo and Lawrence Livermore Laboratory were born in the "Golden State," as it is still sometimes referred to by those who have made great fortunes here as well as by the fortune seekers who have immigrated and migrated to the west from practically every continent.

With the dawning of a new year, the time has come for us Californians to begin rebuilding a world class public education system. This will require getting answers to some of the tough questions mentioned above and re-prioritizing spending of diminishing taxpayer revenues. After all, education is the key to California's future.

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