Pasadena Star-News (CA), December 16, 2007
San Gabriel Valley Tribune (CA, December 16, 2007
Whittier Daily News (CA), December 17, 2007

IMAGINE opening the door to a new, $660,000 home in Burbank.

That hefty price tag represents the community's median home price. But at least that means a great neighborhood. And well over half a million dollars surely guarantees access to a quality public school system. Right?

Not really. At local Burbank High, just 44 percent of 11th graders achieved proficiency in English on the California Standards Test (CST) in 2006. And just 23 percent achieved proficiency on the algebra 2 exam.

With results like that, $660,000 doesn't seem like such a good investment.

Throughout California, such school performance has become too common. Even in the poshest zip codes, the state's public schools are failing to provide students with a satisfactory education or to prepare them for college.

The data are shocking. At more than one in 10 middle class California public schools, a majority of students in at least one grade level scores below proficiency in English or math. Nationwide, six in ten non-poor fourth- and eighth-graders in public schools score below proficiency in math and reading.

Unfortunately, Los Angeles County's schools typify this trend.

At Acton's Vazquez High, just 33 percent of 11th graders achieved proficiency on the state English exam in 2006. And none of the students taking the Early Assessment Program (EAP) were deemed ready for college-level English. That's right, none.

With the area's median home prices near $800,000, Acton parents should ask whether such underperforming schools justify their staggering mortgage payments.

At Culver City Senior High - a California Distinguished School in 2005 - just 51 percent of 11th graders achieved proficiency on the 2006 CST English test. And just as in Acton, none of those taking the EAP were labeled "ready" for college-level English.

With such poor test scores, one must wonder how California decides which schools should be labeled as "Distinguished."

These schools, of course, don't fit our pre-conceived notions of failing institutions.

Less than a third of the students are poor, and very few are non-native English-speakers or disabled. Many parents have advanced degrees. And most - if not all - teachers are certified.

In other words, despite the conventional wisdom, low-performing schools aren't just an inner-city problem.

Fortunately, there is a solution. It starts with breaking the geographically enforced monopoly on public schooling. Let all California parents, regardless of income or address, choose their children's schools. Such freedom would also introduce some much needed competition into the educational system, pressuring under-performing schools to shape up or lose students.

School choice programs would expand the educational opportunities for all students without putting parents - or state governments - in the poorhouse.

Given the skyrocketing cost of homes in Los Angeles County and the sub-par performance of many of its schools, it's high time for school choice here and throughout the rest of California.

Vicki E. Murray, Ph.D. is senior policy fellow in Education Studies and Lance T. Izumi is director of Education Studies at the Pacific Research Institute.