Abstract
Contemporarily, notable changes are evident in the education systems across the United States, which is influencing the outlook of the nation. The change is unmistakable in a number of sectors across the state of California. This paper provides an illustrative framework for the formal organization of the education system in California by focusing on the status quo, impact, and status of the education within the state.
Education is valuable and critical to the success of a nation, and thus the state of Californian has to do everything possible to ensure that students value their learning process. Through a systematic analysis of information, this article will examine relevant patterns, which are suitable to bring positive impact and stability to the Californian education sector. The paper seeks to establish a link between the education system and other related areas such as economy, politics, and demographic sectors.
Introduction
For both long-term and short-term effective planning, policymakers have to develop a guide reflecting the immediate past and the status quo coupled with predicting the desired future for a good education system in California. The status of the education today can be assessed by first looking at what the past has achieved and comparing the results to the current situation to determine if there is any noticeable progress.
The second step involves gauging what is already achieved with what ought to be attained in the near future. However, in a bid to attain these objectives, several factors have to be incorporated. The study sheds light on the segments affecting education in California. Finally, the article evaluates the necessary prospects to bring the expected changes to the education system across California. Education opens doors to opportunities and it is the escalator leading to success in California.
Understanding the education system in California
California hosts a high number of individuals seeking formal education in the modern times. It offers education for all ages from childhood to adulthood. Changing patterns of immigration and fertility have led to the establishment of many learning institutions, both public and private (Johnson, 2010).
However, the education system is crippled by a complex bureaucratic system, flawed policies, and misuse of school resources, funds, and facilities. The education sector is expanding, but a significant drop in the quality of education offered is prevalent in most learning centers. Public schools have reported a major decline most notably in the overall performances in most departments.
A report by Paton (2014) indicates that the quality of education is in decline at the overcrowded learning institutions. A non-desirable tendency of stacking students in lecture halls is gradually developing. Research indicated that academicians are losing believe in the standards of education with quality being compromised by admitting many students, but with no adequate facilities (Paton, 2014).
Lecturers are expressing concerns of being manipulated to inflate results and report a high number of top degrees in a bid to help institutions to appear competent in service delivery. Reforms in the education sector have been used to the advantage of many universities, which admit excess students under the disguise of the ‘reform agenda’.
Through the reforms, the systems have compromised the standards of education instead of improving them. The quality offered might be good, but it does not meet the set expectations, as they do not equip students with the requisite skills to fit in the competitive employment sector (Heller, 2013).
Trends in the education sector
Demographic changes have led to the explosion of student populations across California. Students from diverse ethnic and race affiliations are being admitted in high numbers in public and private schools across the state of California. The domestic population is growing rapidly and the number of foreigners coming to study in the state is increasing annually.
The increase in population has defined implications for the education sector such as the increasing need for extra teachers especially in the English language to help students whose first language is not English. Other factors include the “need to address issues of dropout rates, grading, school completion rates, and equity in resources among schools and effective way to absorb those coming out of school” (Mathews & Paul, 2010, p. 102).
The population is expected to rise, and thus schools will have to expand their intake capacities irrespective of the adequacy of resources; hence, if the involved stakeholders and policymakers do not take a quick proactive action, the quality of education will continue to deteriorate.
Shifting transformations in the economy has led to the increased cases of a recession in the economy of California as well as the rest of the global economy. As the job sector becomes competitive and limited, the education system is struggling to ensure that graduates have skills that they need to fit in the global economy (Karoly & Bigelow, 2005).
Due to the large number of students in California, many economic challenges are experienced. California has a high number of English learners and students from low-income generating backgrounds, thus making it costly especially for the public schools to finance and achieve their objectives without compromising on quality. Following the 2008 global economic recession, the budgetary allocation on education was cut for the subsequent years.
Even though the economy is nearing full recovery, the state formula funding is showing an insignificant increase, which is inadequate to cater for the big education sector of California. The state’s education budget cuts are slowing the rate of economic resurgence. The reduction in funds has led to the retrenchment of teachers and cut in pay for those who remain, as well as cut of learning supplies, thus undermining the efforts by the schools to provide quality education.
Possibilities of increase in budgetary allocations in the coming financial years are high due to the positive recovery in the economy. However, this increase will not necessarily address the problem of limited resources. This assertion holds, as the state survey on education population does not make precise predictions on the expected increase in student population. The policymakers, parents, and teachers need to come together and find a lasting solution to education funding gridlock for the benefit of all students in California. The faster the reforms are actualized, the better.
Challenges facing education system in California
Coming up with ideas to improve performance in schools is easy, but implementing those plans has been a nightmare for the involved stakeholders. The majority of these challenges are very common, and thus they might be ignored in the implementation process, yet they pose a huge threat to the education system.
Family factors such as “divorce, poverty, and violence are some of the challenges that students bring to school every other day” (Urdan, Solek & Schoenfelder, 2007, p. 14). The majority of these children need close individual aid and counselling to relieve the stressful home environment. This aspect affects the overall performance of the students and unless parents are willing to combine efforts with teachers, the problem will persist (Padgett, 2006).
Bad policies and lack of effective education reforms are other challenges facing the Californian education system. The gap between spending per student and the national average is widening and lesser spending is allocated to California as compared to other states (Bonetto et al., 2013).
In addition, efforts to strike equity in funding among Californian schools are yet to mature. Career and college readiness has not yet been achieved. Most students graduate with no skills to thrive in the job market. Moreover, lack of parental involvement is dragging quality service delivery. Most teachers are forced to find ways to involve parents in their children’s education (Urdan, Solek & Schoenfelder, 2007).
Improper use of technology is also an impediment as there has been a challenge in using online facilities to improve the effectiveness of class learning. In schools where digital revolution has been realized, it is being misused or is ignored. Most students focus on unnecessary materials on the Internet, thus deliberately ignoring the educative aspects of technology (Hans & Segupta, 2009).
This trend poses danger in developing a culture of substandard performers both in school and later in the employment sector. In addition, some students develop advanced skills to use computer technology better than their teachers do, thus creating a conflict; hence, the teachers may choose to ignore the system.
The final challenge lies in the lack of reading culture amongst students. California is a high profile state with diverse lifestyles. This aspect leaves students spoilt with choices on how to dress, what to eat, and how to socialize with their peers.
The availability of technology is a good platform for fun and entertainment. If the students are not well guided, they end up learning a lot of stuff, which is not needed in the education curricula. This aspect affects their performance in school due to the lack of determination and focus to the state’s system of grading.
The way forward
The involved stakeholders in the education system should agree that the problem in the sector is widening every other day. Increasing funding will improve the schools’ conditions, but focus should be geared towards reforms before dealing with resources. Mathews and Paul (2010) note that the best link to success in the state of California is education.
Unfortunately, the link has been broken and the only way to fix it is by investing in quality education programs. Ironically, resources to improve education across the state are available, but the will is lacking. With strong policies and responsible leadership, quality education can be granted to the student fraternity. In addition, improving working conditions should be a priority. Teachers should be motivated by good pay based on individual performance.
Conclusion
With the current decline in the standards of education in California due to poor policies amongst other aforementioned factors, the problem will persist if the necessary proactive measures are not taken. With the will to improve the education sector through an affirmative reform agenda, unparalleled improvements can be realized with the already available resources.
Politics of inequality, division, and struggle for power should become secondary in the Californian reform agenda. In a bid to achieve the much-desired changes in the education system, all stakeholders should pursue a common goal of establishing a functional education system.
References
Bonetto, G., Buck, V., Deleon, E., Emrey, J., Nadine, K., Anagnoson, J., & Kelleher, J. (2013). Governing California in the Twenty-First century. New York, NY: Norton.
Hans, J., & Segupta, R. (2009). Closing the gap: Meeting California’s need for college graduates. San Francisco, CA: Public Policy Institute.
Heller, D. (2013). The states and public higher education policy: Affordability, access, and accountability. Baltimore, MD: JHU Press.
Johnson, H. (2010). Higher education in California. San Francisco, CA: Public Policy Institute.
Karoly, A., & Bigelow, H. (2005). The economics of investing in universal preschool education in California. Santa Monica, CA: Rand Corporation.
Mathews, J., & Paul, M. (2010). California Crackup: How reform broke the golden state and how we can fix it. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Padgett, R. (2006). Best ways to involve parents. Journal of Education Digest, 72(3), 44-45.
Paton, G. (2014). Education standards ‘in decline’ at overcrowded universities. The Telegraph, p. 32.
Urdan, T., Solek, M., & Schoenfelder, E. (2007). Students’ perceptions of family Influences on their academic motivation: A qualitative analysis. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 22(1), 7-21.