Whitman has a spending problem

On June 3 in Roseville, California, candidate Meg Whitman told an audience that California does not have a revenue problem, it has a spending problem.  This is a common rant among Republicans.

Well lets see, in the last two years California’s  k-12 schools have received over a  $16 billion  cut back in  state funding.   California presently ranks  44th  of the states in per pupil spending and last among the states in class size.   This year  the Governor proposes to reduce  k-12 spending by another  $2.4 Billion. Taxpayers are getting precisely what they are not paying for – a Mississippi class education system.

National Assessment of Education Progress [NAEP]:

• California is tied for 47th among states in fourth-grade reading. (NAEP, 2008-09)

• California is tied for 46th in eighth-grade math. (NAEP, 2008-09)

• California’s economically disadvantaged students rank 49th in fourth-grade

reading. (NAEP, 2008-09)

Finance;

• California spends $2,131 less per pupil than the national average, ranking the State  44th in the country. (National Education Association [NEA], 2008-09)

• California spends less per pupil than each of the largest 10 states in the nation –

almost $6,000 less per pupil than New York. (NEA, 2008-09)

This is the state of the California education, and Meg Whitman proposes to cut more.  That is what she means when she says California does not have a revenue problem, we have a spending problem.