HELP!! Our Schools Are Drowing!!

Hey,

Somebody help me understand this...

California's schools are in a state of financial emergency, according to the state's education chief, Tom Torlakson. The State Superintendent of Public Instruction spoke to reporters about the challenges facing California's schools at a press conference in Sacramento Thursday.


Torlakson said that $18 billion dollars in cuts over the last three years have taken a heavy toll on the state's schools. He said that a California Department of Education survey conducted last year found that 58% of school districts have cut educational material; 48% have cut nursing and counseling staff; and 35% have increased class size while reducing the number of teachers. Nearly half of the state's districts have reduced employee pay, according to Torlakson.

Now, the idea that a good education will make our country stronger is suppose to be solidly engrained in our national culture. So why are we reducing funding for our schools?

There is a clear relationship between schooling and the risks of unemployment and crime.  Increase in formal schooling are almost invariably accompanied by lower unemployment rates and crime. According to the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO), roughly 1 million youth aged 16 to 19 who required serious help in the labor market, at least 44 percent had severe educational deficiencies and were illiterate. These facts lend to support to the view that the crime and job problem that we face result mainly from a mismatch between poorly educated jobseekers and the increasingly sophisticated jobs in the market. The best way to attack this problem is through continued education and training.

The Power of Education, folks..