The education system in California has both public and private schools such as the University of California, California Community Colleges, public and private elementary schools, private colleges and universities, and, any high schools. California has the highest population in the US with many school students at all education levels. According to the 2005-2006, the state had around 6.2 million scholars in all school levels. The state lags behind in staffing and funding of education especially in the District of Colombia. The teacher-pupil ratio is also big with one teacher handling 21 students according to the 2005-2006 school year reports. Students from African America ;/

Families are living below the poverty line and cannot fund their education fully. To deal with the education challenges in the state, the government has implemented the Dropout Recovery and Prevention Act (SB 65) to deal ith the high rate of dropout in California.

ant to make the hard reform choices. According to reports, 54% of the science teachers lack the necessary equipment for and materials to enable them do experiments and other learning activities. Textbooks are not enough in many schools, and the classroom conditions are not conducive because they are either too hot or too cold. Many teachers are not comfortable with their working conditions and the overall teaching and learning conditions in California are not favorable. The state has several disadvantaged students especially from the minority groups such as Africa and Latin America because of the unfair distribution of educational opportunities.

Problems facing Education in California

One of the major challenges facing California education system is funding up to the US average level as the state rank 46^th in the per capita spending hen compared to other states in the US. There is a huge gap between the budget per student in California and the national average budget at approximately $691 in 2001-2002 to $2856 in 2010-2011. California children are subjected to substandard education compared to children in the other US states due to the low allocation for each learner.

There are discrepancies in California among the school districts regarding the amount spent on education especially students from the disadvantaged backgrounds. The weighted student formula that gives funding to students from the school district with high-needs students should be applied. The other problem is the diversion of funds to wealthier schools or the resistance offered by such schools.

 The other problem with Californian schools concerns the implementation of new accountability and testing systems. There are some accountability systems such as one established by the No Child Left Behind Law did not bear fruits in the performance of schools. There is a lot to be doneare applied in California, the state will always lag behind other states in the US.

There were some programs that were eliminated after the budget cuts, which will be difficult to restore due to insufficient funds. Since the great recession began five years ago, the state government has trimmed many education programs such as cuts in music, reduced counseling staff, and physical education programs. Summer and adult school programs were also eliminated, and it will be difficult to restore all the programs to have an equitable education systems. Before the great recession, the schools used to meet the need for individual students but things have changed.

The other challenge is offering assistance to students from economically challenged families and children with special needs to enable them complete their education. There are many parents that are unemployed and cannot afford the education costs for their children. The problems Managing the costs of special education is also a challenge in California as the number of children with autism increases. The amount provided by the federal government is not enough to cater for their needs as it only provides 11 to 12 percent of the total coast of special education.

Another Technology incorporation in schools is a big challenge has many schools do not have the hardware or the software to initiate the program. Students in California have access to low education levels compared to children with the other states.

There are several reforms in California for upgrading the education system especially the K-12 system. One of the systems adopted by the California State Board of Education is the Common Core State Standards for both mathematics and English languages in 2010. The other one is the Next Generation Science Standards adopted in September 2012 to gauge students’ learning in various schools and are now under implementation. The Assembly Bill 484 in 2012 came with new assessment criteria to replace the Standardized Testing and Reporting system in replacement of California Standards Tests, which ere in use since the year 1997.

Mathematicsfield testing the new tests in English language arts and mathematics in the spring of 2014. However, since the purpose of the field tests is to ensure the validity of the tests themselves, they cannot be used to measure student achievement this year. In November 2012, the State Board came up with ne standards for English Language Development for testing language proficiency in addition to the California English Language Development (CELDT). The accountability system for measuring school performance in each state (Academic Performance Index ). The system will scrutinize the college and career to enable learners relate their class work to the career opportunities. The US Department of Education waived the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) determination for middle and elementary schools in the 2014. However, high schools will receive AYP determinations.

The state government introduced a new funding system called Per-student base grant paid per the student’s grade and an additional cost for the needy students. Schools with many students from unemployed parents, foster students, and English learners receive more funds in addition to the base funding. The new system is good because it does not give room for categorical programs, which give restrictions on the usage of funds. The LCFF has put new accountability measures for the district to demonstrate the usage of funds and whether they achieved the desired results. There is a planned Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP) at district levels to address the students’ educational needs, which will work with the Local Education Agency (LEA) budget.

California state had a moderate population growth rate of )2015, the population figure is approximated to be 38.9 million people with the racial distribution having some changes. The Latino population is expected to be more than the non-Hispanic due to lower birth rates. The annual growth rates are about 4.7 percent with the retirement population hitting

Conclusion

California’s education system faces many challenges since the major recession making the learners get an education that is at a lower standard command to the other states in the US. The majority of the learner’s com from the disadvantaged backgrounds especially the Afric Americans Latin Americans with low incomes. ith the other state. Funding of the education per student and providing extra funds for the needy students and those with special needs. The changes will help in improving the education sector in California and raise the standards of living.