Amie Gonzalez

Writing Sample
This writing sample is an excerpt from a policy proposal I completed for my Political Science
class: Education Policy. The assignment called for an integrative report in which I was
expected to propose five reform policies for Californias public education system based on
previously class-read works, writing from the perspective of the California State Board of
Education.
Integrative Report: California State Board of Education 2015 Proposed Reform Policies
With the newly elected Governor having been officially sworn into office, we the
California State Board of Education have developed an aspirational, strategic plan for reforming
our states public education systemthe current state of which has been a significant aspect of
our new Governors education policy platform. For several decades, the academic advancement
of Californias public schools has been hindered by previous administration. Our states
educational system has also endured serious racial and socioeconomic segregation.
Consequently, we the California State Board of Education, in the next several pages, have
proposed several education reforms in hopes of specifically tackling these issues of segregation
and prevent further damage to our students. Our goal as a collective board is to grant every child
in the state equal opportunity to not only succeed in their studies but also diminish the lasting
effects the current, ineffective state of our public education system has had on them. The
California State Board of Education, along with our innovative newly-elected Governor, believe
that by tackling Californias issue of poverty and socioeconomic inequalities among families, we
will then be able to promote an impartial public education system that is equally open to all
children in the state. We will be addressing how the disproportional distribution of funds among
districts and more affluent communities will reveal that the effectiveness of our public school
system highly depends on the flow of monies in these communities and districts. Per the

Governors request, we the California State Board of Education propose five education reform
policies that challenge the current state of our public schooling system, specifically dealing with
the apparent disparities that have enabled our unfair education system to continue without
reform. We identify and discuss two education reform policies that are commonly proposed and
would be ineffective in improving Californias public education system. We also dovetail the
opinion of four highly respected education policy scholars in our proposals, in hopes of
justifying our education policy recommendations.
Our first recommended reform policy directly addresses the disparities of monies
between school funding, which we think would prove most advantageous to our current system.
Education policy analyst Jonathon Kozol discusses this problematic and prominent issue in his
book, The Shame of a Nation, arguing that funding disparities have diminished any opportunity
for future success among racial minority students. Inner-city, low income schools have almost no
other option but to compensate for the lack of funding they receive from business leaders and
corporations, in comparison to wealthy schools funding who receive most of their funds from
the affluent families or unfairly unequal funds from their district (Kozol 2005, 53). This in turn
affects the curriculum being taught at the schools, as schools become more like managerial
training programs rather than focusing on the students advancements. In order to equal the
playing field for all of our students, the Board proposes that schools who receive large donations
and funds from generous, affluent donors use these outside funds and share the funds they are
given by the district with those schools in desperate need for more moniesfocusing on the
district level to ensure all schools have equal resources for their students. This reform policy
would require the implementation of a new base amount of funds for all students in the state,
which in turn would lead to the staggering of excess reserves to schools in more financially

crippled situations. This will allow these districts in higher need of financial intervention to have
easier access to more state funds but would require those financially-sound districts to receive
funds from the state only through the new strictly-calculated base amounts.
The Boards second recommended education reform policy aims to tackle the issue of
desegregation. We propose a refocusing of racial and socioeconomic desegregation in our
neighborhoods, schools, and school districts. Jonathon Kozol is also a proponent of this policy
type. He points out that school leaders have disregarded any prospects for the reintegration of
these schools despite the increasing divisions between white and non-white students and the
prominence of highly-segregated, non-white schools. Kozol argues that many educators and our
current public education school system have reduced the goal of equality to only one realistic
goal: the nurturing of strong, empowered, and well-funded schools in segregated
neighborhoods (Kozol 2005, 32). This implies that that the prospects for racial and
socioeconomic equality and integration among different communities are no longer sought out,
as it is not considered a major concern anymore. Schools that serve low-income and racial
minority students, on top of their already-limited access to resources and funds, are forced to
alter their teaching methods that aim to better their students chances for a successful future.
When developing this second reform policy, the Board referred to a second education
reform scholar for consideration. Diane Ravitch addresses the issue of segregation and schooling
in her book Reign of Error, essentially arguing that segregation itself has had the most damaging
effects on our students. The achievement gap between white and non-white students has
increased due to segregation. According to Ravitch, African Americans have been subject to a
long history of social and economic oppression and disadvantage; they have experienced higher
levels of poverty and lower levels of education than white Americans (Ravitch 2013, 58). We

must not ignore these thematic issues of high poverty levels and racial isolation that face our
African American and other non-white children. Otherwise, these children will inevitably
experience high levels of crime, violence, and other stress-related factors that will hinder their
future success and reemphasize the increasing achievement gaps we see in our current school
system. Segregation forces our schools that serve racial minority children to hire inexperienced
and ill-trained faculty, implement curriculum that lacks creativity and well roundedness, and
disregard the inclusion of social services in our schools that would benefit the students mental
and physical health. We hope our new Governor takes the issue of segregation seriously and
intervenes immediately.