Bay Area Education Advocates Ask Governor To Keep Data System
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS/AP) -- A California lawmaker and prominent business group are calling on Gov. Jerry Brown to restore funding to develop statewide data systems to track student and teacher performance.
State Sen. Joe Simitian and the Bay Area Council on Monday urged the Democratic governor not to cut funding for the California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System, CALPADS, and its sister program to track teacher performance, CALTIDES.
They say the two systems are key tools for improving California's public schools.
Brown's revised budget plan calls for suspending about $8.5 million in federal funding for the CALPADS and CALTIDES systems and using that money for other education expenses.
KCBS' Barbara Taylor Reports:
Bay Area Council President Jim Wunderman thinks this is a bad idea.
"Let's not act too hastily because there's so much at stake," he said. "Let's all sit down and make some course corrections on the system if need be."
Simitian said with better information, students become higher achievers.
"It really is a question of what works and what doesn't," he said. "In times of scarce resources, those are the most important questions we can be asking."
Asked about that decision, Brown last week said he believes education is a local responsibility and local educators can use existing data to improve student achievement.
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