Food for Thought about California Public Education

By Scott Mayer October 22, 2018

If you live in California and are exposed to any form of media ads, you’ve likely heard or read the shocking claims that “out-of-state billionaires” are engaged in an evil plot to profit off the backs of public-school children by diverting education dollars to charter schools; that teachers are grossly underpaid; and that California is hurting for educational funding. The progressive Utopia known as California (AKA the fifth-largest economy in the world) may boast the highest rate of poverty in the U.S. due to its all-you-can-eat buffet of good intentions, but the message is clear -- the taxpayers need to further tighten their belts.

We’re constantly told that the “solution” to California’s educational problems is more and more money (coupled with whatever the latest fad in technocratic tinkering is). But due to the structural nature of public education, no amount of money is ever enough. It makes as much sense to leave the job of educating our children to the control of a state-run monopoly as it would to enact a similar socialized restaurant system within the state. ..............Fortunately, Governor Jerry Brown hasn’t socialized California restaurants (yet) so they must still bend to the will of the consumer in what remains of the free market, or simply go out of business.......... Read more