California's immense public school system is plagued by gross inefficiencies and inequalities that will require fundamental reforms and much more money, according to a series of studies released this week.Suggested reforms included making it easier to fire bad teachers, providing massive infusions of resources to schools that serve the poor, delivering more accurate student data and eliminating excessive paperwork and conflicting rules and directives.
More than a year in the making, the 22 independent reports taken together paint a picture of an education system beyond tinkering, in need of major overhaul. While changes must include a huge, but unspecified, infusion of money, any increase in funding would be squandered without a total rethinking of how education dollars are spent, the authors concluded.
"For too long, California education policy has been made in a haphazard manner," said Ted Mitchell, the former president of Occidental College who is chairman of the governor's education advisory committee. "We've had one-off proposals
the cumulative effect of which has been to create a system that is byzantine, convoluted and horribly ineffective."
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