May 13, 2008

School accountability rates high in poll

Californians are very concerned about public education but rate lack of accountability for results over a lack of funds as a more important deficiency in the six-million-student system, according to a new poll.

The poll was conducted for the Sacramento-based California Business for Excellence in Education and financed by grants from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

The poll found that Californians’ major educational concerns are too many students not performing at grade level (75 percent of those polled) and too much money being spent on administration and bureaucracy (70 percent). And its findings tend to bolster conservative critics who say the schools are not spending existing funds wisely, and run counter to liberal demands that education spending be increased sharply.

The poll was released one day before Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger unveils a revised state budget and his proposals to close a multi-billion-dollar deficit with education spending the largest single issue. More details on the poll are available here.

Posted by Dan Walters on May 13, 2008 1:10 PM