So Where Does California Rank In Education - And Why?

That's a question that was put to me after I wrote an article about the State of California wanting to mandate Homosexual History in schools.

And this got me thinking, really, where does California rank in education? Fact is, California is ranked near the bottom of the list in education.

According to a 2009 report by the California Faculty Association, California ranks 49th out of 50 states. Another ranking puts California at 47th place.

It wasn't too long ago that California ranked 14th in education nationally. From what I researched, back in the 1950's and 60's California's educational system was rated in the top 10 nationwide.

That seems so long ago, yet at one time academics was California's strong suit. Public Schools were good with kids having great test scores, and yes there really was such a thing as a good quality education in California. 

Math, Science, English, History, Civics were all taught in California schools as primary subjects. Today California's educational system is just a shadow of its former self. The state's standards have become loose and many teachers are more involved in politics than they are in their students education.

The California Teachers Union is one of the strongest in the nation with huge numbers of members which translate to big dollars and  huge political muscle. I read somewhere that the California Teachers Union spent over a million dollars to defeat the Gay Marriage Ban which was on the State Ballot.

Why are they so involved in politics? Who knows really, maybe its the basic liberal makeup of teachers who more than not identify themselves with the ultra-liberal left wing of the Democratic Party.

Parents and students tell me that California teachers have gotten more political and less academic. Maybe that's why the Teachers Union fears skills and competency tests for teachers?

Teachers in California have seen their pay and retirement package sky rocket, while their class size has constantly been reduced over the years because of their screams of over crowding. At least that's the way it was until many of the cities are now laying off teachers and the class sizes are growing.

But the fact is that the teacher to student ratio in California is still very good. And yes, teachers do get paid a lot of money. California does in fact pay its teachers as much as comparable professions in the private sector.

According to the Sacrament Bee Newspaper website, "The average teacher salary last year was $67,932, an increase of 1.4 percent from 2009, according to new state figures. The average superintendent salary last year was $158,622, an increase of 0.6 percent from 2009. Much of the increase in average teacher pay was related to districts laying off thousands of less-experienced, lower-paid teachers. Combined teacher payroll for all districts fell by about $600 million, or 3 percent. Teacher pay varies widely by district."

At an average of $67,932 to work from September to June each year and still be able to hold another job during the summer months is't a bad deal. I remember taking a few summer classes in College and having a teacher who held a regular teaching position as a High School teacher. He said he made a lot of money during his summers "off" away from his regualr teaching position.

California's teachers are being paid on average the second highest teacher salaries in the nation. Only New York is higher according to the National Education Association.

To search out your California district to see how well your school district pays its teachers and superintendents, click here.

And though teaching money is good, education in California is horrible. From what I hear by talking with parents, many are disappointed with the quality of their children's education. The consensus seems to be that California public schools today are little more than teenage daycare facilities where sex and liberalism are the main courses studied.

As I asked on another post, what has replaced California's focus on Math, Science, English, Civics, and History in California public schools?  

Sure the importance of learning Math and Science, English and History are not the only parts to a well-rounded education. But friends, today these essentials are not the focus of California schools at all.

So what has caused the dumbing down of California's schools?

If not the possibility of it being some self-serving teachers, then who or what has caused California to reach the point of providing horrible schools with lousy educational standards? Why does California consistently fall behind?

Well, part of the problem is that the State of California feels that through teaching multiculturalism, diversity, homosexuality, the fear of the scam called Global Warming, and the rest of the liberalism agenda, that they are not behind the rest of the nation - but instead believe that they are actually leading the nation.

Imagine that! To California, up is down, bad is good, wrong is right.

To California, Capitalism is bad while Socialism is good; Big Brother government is good while Freedom and Democracy are bad; Adam and Eve is wrong while Adam and Steve is good; the earth is good and people are bad; and of course in today's schools, Christians are bad while Atheists and other beliefs are good. 

And please don't say that Atheist don't believe in something when they certainly do, they believe there is nothing there. Their belief is in the nothingness of man.

California believes in something, yes, the State of California truly believes that public schools are on the right track. Because of that fact, no one can convince the State of California that our schools are failing. 

The people in charge of California's educational standards won't admit that there is a problem. And if they won't admit that there is a problem, then how can they address the problem if they refuse to hear the truth about why schools are failing?

It the same as dealing with an Alcoholic who doesn't see his drinking as a problem. They say to get an Alcoholic to stop drinking, he first has to admit to having a problem, second he has to recognize that his enemy is booze, and lastly he has to take action to stop drinking.

California is an Alcoholic who thinks he fine, he has no problem with liberalism, and will no way in Hell accept that ultra-left liberalism is destroying schools and subsequently our kids - all in the exact same way that most Alcoholics will not accept that booze is destroying their lives and families and careers.

The answer is that the state can't be convinced of anything as long as they refuse to accept the fact that their agenda for social engineering has failed. Parents will have to take action in the same way that the Tea Party formed to change the way liberal spend money in Washington.  

And who's fault is it that California schools are doing so bad? My opinion is that it's the fault of many, but mostly it's falls to the teachers and libearal politicians running the state.

The Teachers!

The teachers are partially at fault and have to owe up to some of the responsible for things going to hell in a hand-basket. In many cases teachers, who falsely refer to themselves as educators, have allowed their ideology to over rule their ability to teach subjects like History or Civics in a non-bias or non-judgemental manner. In many cases they have refused to simply give the fact over to the student and allow him or her to use their own sense of right and wrong to make their own opinions.

Instead the opinions of many a teacher becomes what the student retains. And as for English, well English is becoming a second language bowing these days to Spanish in more and more schools from what I'm told. I know for fact that one of the complaints at Junior Colleges is the lack of preparation they see in students leaving High Schools in California. 

Many Colleges complain that today's student on the overall don't posses the basic reading and writing skills that's required to enter Community College, nevertheless a full University. And who's fault if that? Well it is a perfect example of the lack of importance that High Schools put on the essentials of knowing English.   

Then there is the teacher's own ability to teach? Do they know their subjects? Maybe yes, but the problem is maybe no!

And that's where the California Teachers Union is at fault and responsible, because they place their need for more paying members ahead of the needs of schools to hire more qualified teachers. By fighting teacher certification testing, the Teachers Union has essentially made themselves the defenders of the inept in many cases.

Of course, since this is just my opinion, I blame a good deal of Californias problems with California schools of this state's mostly ultra-left liberal politicians who owe their political souls to the wealthy liberal special interest groups  - like say the Gay and Lesbian lobby who only represent 1% of the entire population of California yet donate heavily to their liberal politician friends in Sacramento.

And what do the get for their money? Well the state's liberal base gets a seat at the table to decide what goes on the curriculum and a say where the state's funding for education is spent. 

Needed money that can be spent to teach more Math classes, and more Science, English, or History classes, now go to teaching kids about Homosexual History and how socialism is OK. 

And yes, just recently because Governor Jerry Brown signed it into law, Homosexuality History will be forced upon children in all California schools because it's now mandated by the State.  

Money got it in to the schools. The very wealthy Hollywood backed Gay and Lesbian lobby couldn't find a way to teach homosexual sex to kindergartners, but instead found a way to introduce homosexuality into the elementary schools. So let the Homosexual indoctrination courses begin!

And this my friends is why California schools are failing! It is liberalism.

Liberalism in California is rapid in it's public schools. Whether its encouraging deviant behaviors like abortion or drug use, or encouraging a hatred for America and a disdain for our military, enforcing class warfare, or teaching that unsafe homosexual acts and promiscuity are really all OK, the liberal agenda to make deviant behaviors acceptable is part of the liberal concept of a "good education".

Yes, liberal cognitive behavior is the desired result. That is what they what to achieve. A socialist ultra-liberal society with contempt for America as a whole is their goal. Social indoctrination is what they are doing, and yes the California educational system is ripe for their indoctrination methods. 

The liberal left believes in indoctrinating the children at there youngest point because they know that that is when they are most influenced. That may be the reason that this new mandate to teach children about Homosexual History is going to be taught at the lowest levels of Elementary School .

It is a fact that a child's formative years are when they establish their ideals of the world around them, and yes that fact is not lost on the Liberal Left. 

Every parent wonders about their child's formative years. The question is always the same, what level of imprinting should be handed down to your own children? This is a time that is considered a critical time to invest the correct morals into a child. 

Fact is is that early lessons do have a lasting impact. 

Whether people need the example of President Obama learning to be a good Muslim in his formative years which he proudly states had a great impact upon his life, or if it's the example of research showing that children learn more in their formative years than any other time in their lives, liberal educators know this and use it to indoctrinate those children who are left at their mercy.

To me, the sane course of action for parents in California today is to pull their children out of public schools and either look into home schooling or charter schooling for their children. Maybe establish private charter schools that don't ascribe to California liberal agenda?

Think about it. This may be the tipping point when parents decide to create alternative schools that will concentrate its efforts on providing a focus on essential subjects like Math, Science, English, History, and Civics, before the anything else. A return to basic educational skills is what is needed in California.

If parents should start a grass-roots effort to ban together and either make Sacramento tow the line? Maybe a Parent Party, like the Tea Party, may need to be created to get California to adjust it's thinking and stop appeasing just the liberals in California?

If parents can, at the least, I believe that they should find some way to boycott California public schools.

So what has killed the great quality education that was once a California strong suit? Why is California ranked at the bottom of the list?

Yes, I believe Liberalism is the ultimate culprit. It was a threat that turned into vicious reality in California. And yes, I believe it has accomplished its mission of turning our Public Schools into nothing lees than Liberal Indoctrination Camps. 

But don't fool yourself, the threat of liberalism is not just in California. It's happening in other states as well. And if you don't think that your child's education is being neglected while at the same time liberal indoctrination is going on, please think again.

Whatever you do, don't allow your state to become another California. The results are horrible.

Story by Tom Correa