History of IDEA
Jeannie Oakes, Founder and Former Director
Youth Voice in School Finance
NEW REPORT: Los Angeles' road to A-G for all
Without Dollars and Sense Powerpoint
Past Educational Opportunity Reports
School Matters: From Sisyphus to Prometheus, California's Education Challenge
New America Media - Feb 25, 2009
By Paul Tran
Editor's Note: California's education system has been on a downward slide for too long, with the state that was once a leader in key indicators, now 48th among the 50 states in high school graduates who go to college. But the information is available to empower communities and policymakers to create excellence once again. Paul Tran is communications director at Californians for Justice, which works with Parents and Students for Great Schools (PSGS) a coalition of leading grassroots and advocacy organizations.
In Greek mythology, King Sisyphus is sentenced to an afterlife in which he must push a boulder up a hill, only to have it roll down again just as he reaches the top. It's a story of frustration and futility that is a fitting metaphor for school reform efforts in California.
That Sisyphean scenario is evident in a new report to be released yesterday, which describes the long, uphill effort California faces in moving our public schools toward excellence. The annual Educational Opportunity Report by UCLA's Institute for Democracy, Education, and Access (IDEA) examines the educational achievement and conditions in California's public schools. Its findings would have been shocking a decade ago. Today, they are almost taken for granted by a public used to bad schools. But the findings are worth noting.
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