A visit to an Oakland School

I have been doing some part time work for a social service agency that coordinates volunteer projects in the Bay Area. Today I was out on a site visit for an upcoming project at one of Oakland's elementary schools. To say that these schools have seen better days physically would be understating the situation dramatically. The playground I stood on had a set of climbing bars that I remember from my own childhood, and that was 30+ years ago. The auditorium was small, dark and in need of not just a fresh coat of paint, but really of being brought into the 21st century altogether.

Now, its not all bad. The staff I met struck me as caring, hard working and determined to make a difference in the lives of their students. The fact that California leads the country, perhaps the world, in so many intellectual fields (Cal, Silicon Valley, etc) but lags so far back in public education is amazing. That it seems to be the norm among upper middle class folks to send their kids to private school is mind boggling.

I been told that a good chunk of the education system's problems can be traced back to Prop 13 and the distortion it inflicted on school districts revenue stream. This in turn has made all school districts dependent on the state for funds and we all know how well that is working out these days.

Of course in some schools and some districts the PTA steps in and funds all those "luxury" items- like art, music and sports. It seems so odd that a state that is so progressive on so many issues (environment, work place laws, etc) could be so regressive in hurting the most at risk for the sake of insulating folks from the true costs of the communities they live in.

That's my rant for the day. Thanks for reading.