Comments
A STUDENT’S VIEW - Every election season, Californians hear the same promise: our public schools simply need more money.
Year after year, taxpayers are asked to dig deeper. Billions more are appropriated. New programs are announced. More funding is approved.
Yet the same questions remain.
Why are so many students still struggling to read and perform math at grade level?
Why do parents continue leaving the public school system?
Why do school districts repeatedly find themselves facing financial crises despite record levels of spending?
The answer is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.
California's biggest education problem isn't money. It's leadership.
Recently disclosed documents reported by The California Post indicate that financial professionals within the Los Angeles Unified School District warned district leaders that approving substantial employee pay increases without a sustainable long-term funding plan could place the district on an unstable fiscal path. Those warnings were raised, yet the contracts moved forward. District leaders have defended their financial plan, but the controversy raises a larger question that extends far beyond Los Angeles: What happens when leaders stop listening to the very experts hired to protect the public's trust?
That question should concern every parent in California.
Leadership is not measured when decisions are easy. Leadership is measured when difficult choices must be made.
Responsible leaders weigh evidence. They listen to experts. They plan for the future. They protect the institutions entrusted to their care even when doing so is politically inconvenient.
Ignoring warning signs may win today's political battle. It often creates tomorrow's crisis.
Unfortunately, California has seen that pattern too many times.
When financial problems emerge, students rarely see administrators absorb the consequences. Children do.
Programs are reduced. Class sizes increase. Maintenance is delayed. Opportunities disappear. Students lose, while adults debate who is responsible.
That is backwards.
Public education exists for one reason: students.
Every budget, every policy, every labor agreement, every administrative decision should begin with one question: Will this help children learn? If that question cannot be answered clearly, the decision deserves to be reconsidered.
California taxpayers have invested enormous resources in public education. Parents have invested something even more valuable: their trust.
Parents send their children to school believing they will receive the education needed to compete in college, succeed in the workforce, and become informed citizens. They expect academic excellence. They expect fiscal responsibility. They expect honesty.
Those expectations are not unreasonable. They are the minimum standard every public school system should meet.
Demanding accountability does not diminish teachers. California is home to thousands of dedicated educators who work tirelessly every day to help students succeed despite increasing challenges inside and outside the classroom. They deserve leadership that manages resources responsibly, makes difficult decisions wisely, and creates an environment where great teaching can flourish.
Accountability is not anti-teacher. It is pro student. It is pro parent. It is pro taxpayer.
Unfortunately, accountability has become one of the rarest qualities in modern government.
When private companies repeatedly fail, leadership changes. When nonprofits lose public confidence, boards intervene. When businesses ignore financial warnings, investors demand answers. Government should not be the only institution where failure becomes acceptable simply because it is familiar.
Public office is a public trust. That trust must be earned not assumed.
Parents should never be expected to accept declining academic performance as the new normal. They should never be told that disappointing outcomes are inevitable. They should never be asked to celebrate increased spending while measurable student achievement fails to keep pace.
California's children deserve better than lowered expectations. They deserve schools that reward excellence. They deserve leaders who welcome accountability instead of resisting it. They deserve elected officials willing to ask difficult questions before crises become headlines.
Most importantly, they deserve adults who remember why public education exists in the first place: not for bureaucracies, not for political interests, not for institutions for children.
That is why the next election matters.
Every school board member. Every legislator. Every statewide education official. Every governor. Each one ultimately answers to the people.
Voters should ask every candidate the same simple question: How will your decisions improve student achievement not your political standing?
If they cannot answer that question, they have not earned the public's confidence.
California's education system does not need better slogans. It needs better leadership. It does not need more excuses. It needs measurable results. It does not need another generation of students waiting for promised reforms. It needs leaders willing to make difficult decisions today, so children have greater opportunities tomorrow.
Our children cannot choose the adults who govern their schools. Parents can.
And if Californians truly believe every child deserves an excellent education, then accountability cannot begin after the next crisis. It must begin at the ballot box.
Because California's education crisis is no longer a question of money. It is a question of leadership. And leadership is something every voter has the power to change.
(Shoshannah Kalaydjian is a young Jewish student who writes about education, identity, and the challenges facing the next generation. Growing up in today’s climate, she has witnessed firsthand how rising antisemitism affects young people in classrooms and on college campuses. She is committed to sharing the perspectives of Jewish youth, amplifying student voices, and encouraging leaders to create safer, more inclusive environments for all students.)
