TheBakersfieldCalifornian.com

Can you believe it? Summer vacation is over and school is about to begin. I wonder what the future holds for the new school year. Probably more of the same.

I don't remember the last time I heard good news about California's education system. We are always talking about the lack of money. Teacher lay-offs seem to be a perennial topic. And who can forget our lousy API scores? It doesn't matter how you measure, the California education system is languishing near the bottom in the nation.

The National Center for Education Statistics compiles, tracks and publishes statistics on academic progress in our public schools. According to the most recent data less than a quarter of California's elementary and middle school students are proficient in reading, writing and arithmetic.

Only three-quarters of the high school students in Kern County graduate with their classes. About one in 10 completes a GED. That leaves us with a high school dropout rate of nearly one in five.

Academic performance isn't the only challenge we face. The economy is bad too.

A weak economy affects government revenue. Reduced revenue affects school funding. Lower funding results in worse performance. So how can we possibly hope to increase primary academic performance and high school graduation rates?

No doubt we do the best we can at the local level. Our teachers and administrators will be back at it soon making tough decisions in an attempt to provide the highest quality education possible. And we shouldn't forget the way our communities always embrace the opportunity to meet special local needs.

Now would be a great time for the Legislature to step up and do something constructive to get more bang for our educational buck.

So in these times of lackluster academic performance and backbreaking financial pressures, our California Legislature really took the bull by the horns. Yes, California schools have gone from truly mediocre to FAIR.

The Fair, Accurate, Inclusive and Respectful (FAIR) Education Act amends the Education Code to include social studies instruction on the role and contributions of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans as they affect the economic, political and social development of California.

FAIR adds the LGBT community to a list of underrepresented ethnic and cultural groups that need more exposure in textbooks and other instructional materials in schools.

Our educational program sits somewhere in the bottom ten states for primary and middle school reading, writing and arithmetic. But we'll make up for it by being first in the nation with this!

Instead of focusing on academic performance, our politicians gave us FAIR. Instead of squeezing every drop of reading, writing and arithmetic out of our stale and ponderous education system -- especially in the primary grades -- we're going to add sexual expression to the list of social issues diluting learning in Kern County.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson made a typical bureaucrat's public statement of support for FAIR. Then he added, "As the result of ongoing budget reductions, the state process for the development and review of K-8 instructional materials is currently dormant, but the California Department of Education looks forward to curriculum that reflects the diversity of our state."

The process for developing California's K-8 instructional materials is DORMANT?! We are in such a state here in California that we can't even meet the new requirement to include LGBT people in the social studies curriculum! Our education system ranks in the bottom quartile of the nation and this was the best we could do?

What was our Legislature thinking? Some of us in Kern County can afford to put our kids in private schools. But most of us can't and those are the people who will suffer most from this ideological fiasco imposed on our educational system.

At least it wasn't all of them. I appreciate the commitment of Kern County's state legislators who voted against SB 48. In the Assembly Shannon Grove, Connie Conway and David Valadao and in the Senate Jean Fuller opposed the measure.

And, no, I didn't forget Sen. Michael Rubio. Rubio voted for the new requirement. Clearly it wasn't based on the educational needs of his constituents.

Just look at a map of the API scores for Kern County schools. Then look at a map of Rubio's District 16 in Kern County.

Poor school performance is rampant and people in his district should be irate. Of all the representatives who should be passionately fighting for tangible, practical improvement in the quality of education for his constituents, Rubio should be the guy.

Instead it's political correctness as usual. Instead of bolstering fundamental education for kids who could really use excellence, they got FAIR. Rock solid, fundamental academic training is what our kids need.

Until we start taking our kids' needs more seriously than political agendas, our educational system will never be better than fair. The effort our politicians spent catering to LGBT special interests was a waste of time at a critical moment for education in our state.

-- Ric Llewellyn is one of three community columnists whose work appears here every Saturday. These are the opinions of Llewellyn, not necessarily The Californian. You can email him at llewellyn.californian@gmail.com. Next week: Heather Ijames.