Governor Brown and K-12 Education

In yesterday's State of the State address, Governor Brown spent a lot of time on K-12 education, the biggest single item in the state budget. His proposals could put California out of phase with the education policies of the Obama Administration. He called for major changes in funding, testing and teacher evaluation, and for shifting more power from the state to local school boards. Brown would redirect the one-third of all state money that is earmarked for specific purposes to provide basic funding "with additional money for disadvantaged students and those struggling to learn English." He called for a reduction in test taking and in the time it takes to get test results to educators. He also called for qualitative assessments that include "a site visitation program where each classroom is visited, observed and evaluated."