Editorial: Build California Teacher Database, Even Without Federal Funds

In an Editorial, the Los Angeles Times (8/12) writes that while "California can hardly afford to give up $6 million," the US Department of Education is demanding that amount "back because the state failed to use the funds to build a database on public school teachers, as it had promised." Plans to build the database were vetoed by Gov. Jerry Brown, who "said school districts could build databases on their own employees." The Times argues that "killing a statewide data system is counterproductive. It could have provided a wealth of useful information."