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June 14, 2005
It's not about money.
Ignorant voters insist more money pour into the schools, not knowing California spends more on schools than the entire operating budgets of each of the 49 other states, including New York.That's Jill Stewart, who I found via Mickey Kaus. Go read the article. Whatever should be done with lower education, and the suggestions are myriad, "more money" isn't the place to start. And the ignorance is bipartisan:
The PPIC poll shows how misconceptions are driven by partisanship in California. Democrats tend to believe (ridiculously) that California’s prisons get the most state money. Republicans tend to believe (absurdly) that social welfare gets the most state money.And this is the union that took a half-day last month to protest in Sacramento.People are ignorant in part because our crisis-driven media often lazily push the myth that California is near “the bottom” in school funding. That myth is a product of the education lobby, led by the California Teachers Association, which makes sure California teachers earn the highest salaries in the nation, yet constantly whines that schools are under-funded.
Joanne Jacobs commented on the Stewart piece, too, but I hadn't noticed it there (which is odd, since I read her every day and kausfiles only every once in a while).
Posted by CrankyProfessor at June 14, 2005 10:25 AM