Some California Schools Embrace, Others Ignore, Governor’s Budget Reforms.

The San Jose (CA) Mercury News (10/11, Noguchi) reported on mixed results locally in the year since Gov. Jerry Brown directed $53 billion in additional funds to California’s schools in return for their pledge “to spend more on the neediest students and involve parents in setting priorities.” In the San Francisco Bay Area, according to the story, some schools “have made dramatic changes” that comport with Brown’s directive, “while others have dipped into the larger pool of funds to pay for pet projects” even as they “ignor[e] their poorest students.” The Mercury News says that the governor’s initiative “has worked less well in communities lacking active, organized parents, access to knowledge and resources and receptive school leaders.”