This week, Louis and John pick out the highlights of the voluminous set of research reports on preK-12 education in California, Getting Down to Facts II, which was released Monday. The 36-study project, organized by Stanford University, examines pressing issues — a teacher shortage and rising pension and special education costs — as well as the long-term challenges of large class sizes and a persistent student achievement gap. The project’s principal investigator, Susanna Loeb, offers her take on the key findings, and Jesse Levin, an economist with the American Institutes for Research, discusses the finding that California would need to spend 32 percent more — $22 billion — to adequately fund schools. Louis and John discuss the prospects that a new governor and the Legislature will act on the findings.
For background: