A very real crisis in education

At the national conference of the Education Writers Association, a panelist warned all of us reporters to stop the "narrative of whining" and try to write more creatively about budget cuts.

Which, of course, is very hard to do, given the magnitude of the cuts and their very real results.

Two reports I just had time to pay attention to speak to this issue in frightening detail. The first one, "Free Fall: Educational Opportunities in 2011" by the UCLA's Institute for Democracy, Education and Access. The report is based on interviews to 277 high school principals, and narrates the realities many already know well: budgets for professional development have been cut, programs like music and art. Attention to students has declined, so has progress toward graduation and college.

And once you go to the next level, to college, things get harder: a report by The Civil Rights Project/Proyecto de Derechos Civiles at UCLA called "Squeezed from all sides" documents the difficulties students are having once they get into college: many have parents who have lost jobs so now they have to help their families financially. They can't pay rent, so they couch surf. Many have faced foreclosures. The financial situation is squeezing them not just by increased tuition, but by decreased financial opportunities. It's a terrible situation all the way.

Yesterday, thousands of students demonstrated at the CSUs against further cuts. Sometimes, when you're faced with so much difficult situations, it's hard not to whine.