Lawmakers should keep handcuffs off districts and extend local control

06-15-2011

Opinion by Stephen Blum/Thoughts on Public Education

Stephen P. Blum is the president of the Ventura Unified Education Association and a member of the Ventura County Community College Board of Trustees.

Once upon a time, school districts were mainly controlled by locally elected school boards and district management. The landmark court decisions of Serrano v. Priest (1971 & 1976) and the famous initiative, Proposition 13 (1978), unintentionally shifted the real control of local school districts from localities to Sacramento. Prop 13 was designed to keep senior citizens from losing their homes, and Serrano was meant to equalize school spending in rich and poor school districts. Together, they also changed the funding source of local school districts to the state capital. Consequently, over the decades Sacramento politicians have determined that since they were passing out the money, they should also make the rules. After all, everyone is an expert when it comes to education. (more...)

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Lawmakers should keep handcuffs off districts and extend local control

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