Demonize data on teaching at our state's (California) peril

Jim Wunderman:

The facts are hard.

A generation ago, California had what was considered the best education system on the planet.

Today, our daughters and sons attend one of the worst-performing education systems in the industrialized world.

We are failing on the rock-bottom basics. California students' ability to read is ranked 49th in the country by the U.S. Department of Education. Our kids' ability to do math is ranked 47th and we are second to worst in science. Compared globally, the situation darkens further. Of the top 35 nations, the United States is ranked 29th in science and 35th in math. Your neighborhood school might be good by California standards, but that is a very low bar indeed. Our education crisis is a human tragedy and a looming economic disaster.

The Bay Area Council resolutely refuses to accept this crisis as our state's fate. Let's get past the political gridlock and get down to the real business of dramatically improving California schools. We know, as every honest study has shown, that it will take a combination of real dollars and major changes in the way we deliver education.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at March 14, 2011 5:16 AM
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