<p>Other factors would be Proposition 13, which lowered property taxes state-wide (Schools took a huge & sudden hit), and some would say Teacher Unions which publicly stress protection over professionalism. However, Unions are hardly unique to CA. Prop 13 had a long-range budgetary impact on CA, but the budgetary impact of Third World immigration has been far greater. If there were no unions, the policies of the State Dept. of Education would be sufficient to create & sustain their own damage. </p>
<p>In my earlier post I meant centralization, not decentralization. (A model which is not terribly efficient or effective; great potential for waste; nonresponsive to local needs.)</p>
<p>Perhaps a more important factor than the above 2 addenda is the very economy of CA itself: richly diverse, with many opportunities leading unsatisfied, underpaid teachers away from their first profession of choice to tempting alternates: the computer industry, bio-technology, large University systems, entertainment, the wine industry, the culinary industry. There are so many alternatives that have much more satisfying working conditions, & often better pay.</p>
<p>(And I'm a teacher. I get to criticize.)</p>