Sacramento Schools and the Trillion Dollar Question

Sacramento Schools are the epitome of the problems and concerns held by all public schools in the state of California. Recent and ongoing debates about funding arts education, construction costs, and new initiatives play out in Sacramento Schools daily. The most recent fuel to the fire was added when a study titled Getting Down to the Facts was released: it's an evaluation of the adequacy and efficiency of the current funding of California's public schools. The study was conducted by a California non-profit educational think tank, Pacific Research Institute (PRI).

Given the state's poor reputation in regards to education, most educators in Sacramento Schools weren't surprised by the study's conclusion that the state's current educational funding system is dysfunctional. However, sensational reports claiming that even an investment of $1 trillion couldn't fix the problems of California and Sacramento Schools ruffled the feathers of administrators trying to get money for their initiatives.

Dr. Vicki Murray, senior fellow in Education Studies at PRI, explained that the report did not say that the problems could not be fixed with large amounts of money, rather, "It found what research and common-sense have told us for a long time: spending more money on more of the same won't reverse California's race to the bottom. California's infrastructure is so poor; it's nearly impossible to know where education funding goes or what programs are effective. We shouldn't spend more if we don't know what's working…reform must be our first priority."