Report Gives Low Marks to State Schools

Declaring that American public education is “riddled with excellence but rife with mediocrity,” a national study says that school quality in the 50 states has improved little after 15 years of serious reform efforts, with California ranking among the worst in achievement, school safety and adequacy of funding.

The report, released Thursday, was based on a yearlong study funded with an $850,000 grant from the Pew Charitable Trusts and carried out by the staff of Education Week, a national, Washington-based weekly.

It gave California a D- in school safety and discipline, and in its ability to fairly and adequately fund schools. The state’s highest grade was a B- for the quality of its teaching force.

The nation received an overall grade of C, with many states earning their highest marks for trying to establish academic standards and develop tests to measure progress.

Despite being one of the wealthiest states, California has not kept pace with inflation in education spending, the researchers said, with real dollars per student dropping $323 from 1990 to 1995.

Accompanying the funding shortage have been “staggering demographic changes” and exploding enrollments in a state that educates far more students than any other--one out of every eight American public school children.

“It’s a cliche, I suppose, but it’s a fact: The diversity in California makes for a much more difficult challenge facing the state’s policymakers and the public,” said Virginia B. Edwards, Education Week editor, who coordinated a team of 80 editors and reporters to produce the 235-page report.

California’s 5.4 million students in kindergarten through 12th grade are “more diverse and more urban” than those of nearly every other state, the report notes. In 1994, one out of two California students attended a school in which no single ethnic group made up more than half of the student body. The state has more students not proficient in English--1.2 million--than the entire student population in all but seven states.

But the study says such hurdles are not insurmountable. Texas has about the same percentage of poor and black students and a higher proportion of Latinos. But poor and minority youngsters in Texas scored markedly higher in reading and math on the National Assessment of Educational Progress.

Texas’ investment in class-size reduction has been a crucial factor in its performance, the study suggests. About 90% of Texas’ elementary teachers now have fewer than 25 children per class. Until this year, when California swung into a $1-billion program to cut class size in the primary grades, the same was true for only 7% of California’s elementary teachers.

The report also found some bright spots in California, such as how, since 1984, the state has more than tripled the number of students earning passing scores on Advanced Placement exams, including substantial gains by black and Latino students.

“We are well on our way to addressing most of the issues Education Week has raised,” said California Department of Education spokeswoman Susie Lange.

A spokesman for Gov. Pete Wilson’s education advisor, Marian Bergeson, said the report does not reflect recent increases in state education funding made possible by an improved economy. Wilson proposed boosting per-pupil spending to $5,000 this year, an increase of $659 since 1995.

“We are targeting dollars for some of the reasons the report identifies,” spokesman Dan Edwards said, referring to initiatives to cut class size and improve reading and math instruction.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Not Making the Grade

A national study of U.S. public education found that school quality has improved little after 15 years of serious reform efforts. Here is a summary of grades assigned in the report.

STANDARDS AND ASSESSMENTS

California’s grade: Incomplete

States receiving A or A- grades: Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont and West Virginia

States receiving D, D- or F: Iowa, Montana, Nebraska, Wyoming

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QUALITY OF TEACHING

California’s grade: B-

States receiving A or A- grades: none; Kentucky and Minnesota got the highest marks

States receiving D, D- or F: Arizona, Hawaii, Idaho

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SCHOOL CLIMATE

California’s grade: D-

States receiving A or A- grades: none; Maine and Vermont got the highest marks

States receiving D, D- or F grades: Arizona, Delaware, Florida, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Utah

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ADEQUACY OF RESOURCES

California’s grade: D-

States receiving A or A- grades: New Jersey, New York, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin

States receiving D, D- or F grades: Arkansas, Colorado, Hawaii, Louisiana, North Dakota, Oklahoma

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ALLOCATION OF RESOURCES

California’s grade: C-

States receiving A or A- grades: none; Georgia, Indiana, Tennessee and Virginia got the highest marks

States receiving D, D- or F grades: Alaska, Delaware, Idaho, Illinois, Maryland, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Oregon

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EQUITY OF RESOURCES

California’s grade: D

States receiving A or A- grades: Delaware, Hawaii, Maryland, North Carolina, West Virginia

States receiving D, D- or F grades: Rhode Island, Texas

Source: Education Week