21 January 2013
CALIFORNIA: California is ranked 41 nationally in education.
By Stephen Park, Staff Writer
According to StudentsFirst, a Sacramento-based group run by Michelle Rhee, California has received an overall grade of F, ranking 41st nationally. The high-profile education advocacy group released the ratings saying California has failed to make proper school reforms, such as creating policies to limit teacher tenure and using students’ test scores to properly analyze them.
California was one of 11 states to receive a failing grade by StudentsFirst, receiving its only good grade in being the birthplace of the “parent trigger” laws, which allow parents to create petitions to replace the teaching staff of low-performing schools or turn over the entire campus to an independently run charter. StudentsFirst says that California would benefit greatly from a statewide evaluation of its teachers and principals that also utilizes a student’s academic achievements as a major factor. It would focus on evaluating test scores to analyze a teacher’s impact on students’ learning while also incorporating more complex attributes like past scores and a student’s race or ethnicity.
The grading system of her group focuses primarily on “the education policies in place in each of our states,” Rhee said. “And when we look solely on policy, it’s clear that we have a long way to go toward improving our education system in America.” Some experts and teacher unions, however, are skeptical of her methods.
Many seem unaffected by the programs ratings, especially The California Department of Education, who seems to be ignoring all the criticism. Deputy Superintendent Richard Zeiger told the New York Times he considers the failing grade a “badge of honor.”
Not a single state received a grade of A by StudentsFirst. The highest-performing states were Louisiana and Florida, each receiving a grade of B-. Louisiana has made a name for itself by converting many of its school campuses to non-union charter schools and giving less fortunate students the funds to attend a private school. Florida requires 50 percent of a teacher’s evaluation to be based on students’ academic performance.
It seems as though Rhee’s system of grading gives more credit to aggressive state control in schools as opposed to local intervention.