by Lance T. Izumi, Fellow in California Studies
Pacific Research Institute
April 9, 1999

Announcer lead: Time for Perspectives. Lance Izumi says that Gov. Davis should not ignore criticism of his education reform proposals.

Although it's only a few months into his governorship, Gray Davis is already showing signs of being thin-skinned when it comes to criticism of his administration's policies. For example, Davis recently labeled critics of his just passed education reforms as "whiners and moaners."

Trouble is, even Davis' allies are unsure about whether his education reforms will actually work. Democratic Assemblywoman Virginia Strom-Martin warned that: "Passing these bills is, to some degree, an act of faith on the part of legislators. They really do have some concerns."

What are some of these concerns? Take, for instance, Davis' new educational accountability system. Under Davis' plan, each public school would be ranked. These rankings would supposedly let the public know how well schools are performing. In reality, however, only 60 percent of a school's ranking will be based on academic performance factors such as student test results. The other 40 percent will be based on a variety of non-academic factors such as school dropout rates, which are notoriously unreliable and subject to statistical manipulation.

Further, only a tiny fraction of low-performing schools would be subject to the accountability system, which relies more on monetary incentives than on hard-hitting sanctions. No wonder, then, that State Senator Ray Haynes, a member of the Senate Education Committee, warns that, "This system is a very expensive way of doing nothing."

In addition, there are legitimate complaints about other parts of Davis' education package. For example, large numbers of students will be exempted from taking the Davis-inspired high school graduation exams. Also, early indications point to the graduation exam being geared only to a ninth- or tenth-grade skill level.

The bottom line is that if Gov. Davis is confident about his reforms, he should be willing to debate his critics on the merits of his plan. Calling them names is a sign not of strength, but of weakness.

With a perspective, I'm Lance Izumi.