KEY POINTS
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TROUBLING PERFORMANCE: Califonia’s fourth graders tie for last in reading. Half the high school graduates need remedial help in college.
INADEQUATE RESOURCES: California spends $911 less per student than the national average. The result: fewer teachers, counselors and books.
DEMOGRAPHIC CHANGE: California has 45% of the nation’s immigrant students and the number of poor students--the toughest to teach--has doubled.
LOW STANDARDS: Teachers assume--often correctly--that students won’t do homework. Even comics are accepted as classroom reading.
SOME PROGRESS: California schools are safer, droputs fewer and far more students are passing demanding Advanced Placement exams.
CLASSROOM ILLUSION: Too many college-prep classes are watered-down to accomodate students who can barely read--leaving them unprepared for higher education.
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