Business
CA schools a mess, including information services
Among the problems, information systems that can't communicate with each other.
A new report evaluating California's public school system found that schools there are crippled by bureaucracy, flawed teacher policies and misspent school money, reports the New York Times.
The bipartisan report called, "Getting Down to Facts," cost $3 million and evaluated why California's 6.8 million school-age students have lagged behind children in almost all other states.
"The structural problems are so deep-seated," a summary of the report said, "that more funding and small, incremental interventions are unlikely to make a difference unless matched with a commitment to wholesale reform."
The study found that state financial policies were so mired in complexity that they hindered district efforts to educate. School data systems were also found to be inadaquate, so much so that they couldn't share important information with other districts.
In response to the negative assessment, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said, "Today's studies show that no amount of money will improve our schools without needed education reform. We need to focus on critical school reform before any discussion about more resources."