As a news junkie, I thrive on factoids that seem contrary to the general wisdom or prevailing thought. Courtesy of yesterday's Wall Street Journal's editorial "California Party Time", we have just such a clarion call of insight. The main message of the piece was that California got away with Gov. Brown's tax rate increases due to the boom in Silicon Valley unlike Illinois, Connecticut or Maryland who tried the same tactic without the innovative private sector to pick up the pieces. It goes on to describe the various ways the Guv and the legislature wants to spend it (vs. saving it in the "rainy day fund"). But the kicker is this:
The boom has been especially sweet for teachers unions because under the state constitution schools are entitled to most of the haul. Over the past four years state spending on K-12 and community colleges has grown by 45% to $68 billion this year.
That is an amazing statistic. There is no mention of how much of that has made its way into the classroom, but any way you look at it, that is a real increase.
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