California’s Education Crisis: Rising Pay, Falling Results, and a System Lacking Accountability
- JB Quinnon
- Apr 9
- 4 min read
California is often celebrated for being progressive, inclusive, and diverse. But beneath the surface of innovation and activism lies a troubling contradiction—one where the values of equity and excellence in education clash with the stark reality of declining literacy and a system seemingly immune to accountability.
Over the last 15 years, California has consistently heard a familiar argument: teachers need to be paid more. That conversation dominated policy debates, parent-teacher meetings, and union demands. The surprising truth? Teachers have been getting paid more. In 2010, the average teacher salary in California hovered around $60,000. By 2024, it had risen to $95,000. That’s a 58% increase.
But the rise in salaries doesn’t end with classroom educators. The Superintendent of Public Instruction, the top official overseeing California’s Department of Education, also saw their salary climb—from $151,127 in 2010 to $210,460 in 2025, a 60% increase.
What’s happened to student outcomes during this time?
In 2010, 56% of California third graders were reading below grade level. By 2025, that figure has increased to 60%. That’s more illiteracy, not less—even with record spending and higher pay for leadership and educators.
How is it possible that more money is being spent—California’s per-pupil spending rose from about $8,800 in 2010 to over $18,000 by 2025—yet students are falling further behind in one of the most essential academic skills?
A part of the answer may lie in how that money is used. Year after year, curriculum standards shift. Simple math has been replaced with convoluted methods that leave even the most involved parents feeling helpless. When you change math to a format unfamiliar to parents, you eliminate a major support system at home. The system becomes more confusing, more bureaucratic, and more detached from everyday realities.
But the deeper concern? It may be more sinister than just poor decision-making. Consider this: the same Department of Education that’s overseeing declining student performance has had financial ties to private prison investments. That’s not a conspiracy theory—it’s rooted in real economic structures. Many public retirement funds, including the 401(k)s of educators and government workers, are tied to private prison stocks. That means the very system educating our children is also profiting when those children—many of whom are failed by that same education system—end up incarcerated.
It’s systemic. It’s bipartisan. And it’s deeply troubling.
Private prisons have investors across the political spectrum. Republicans and Democrats alike have benefited from their existence. But the largest contributor now? 401(k) retirement portfolios. So while we point fingers—blaming underfunding, blaming politicians, blaming each other—the reality is that average Americans have unknowingly become complicit through investments they don’t even control.
The Department of Education, meanwhile, continues to receive billions without transparent outcomes. The people entrusted to improve reading levels are instead presiding over long-term decline—while no one is held responsible.
So what happens when the system that is supposed to lift children up is instead funneling them into failure? What do we say when rising salaries don’t correlate with rising achievement?
It’s time to stop playing Scooby-Doo politics, pointing fingers at villains that distract from the truth. This is about accountability. It’s about demanding more from the people entrusted with billions of taxpayer dollars. It’s about exposing how systemic negligence—and in some cases, systemic profiteering—harms the very children we claim to protect.
California has the money. California has the people. What it doesn’t have is a system that puts student success before bureaucracy and profit.
And that must change.
Master Source List with Hyperlinks and URL Addresses
1. 2024 Average Teacher Salary – World Population Review
Provides updated data on average teacher salaries by state, including California’s 2024 figure of approximately $95,000.
2. Historical Teacher Salary Data – California Department of Education
Official state data showing historical average salaries for public school teachers in California.
3. 2010 Superintendent Salary – CalHR
Lists official compensation data for state leadership, including the California Superintendent of Public Instruction in 2010.
4. 2025 Superintendent Salary – CapRadio
News article covering the current salary and external income of California’s schools chief in 2025.
5. 2010 Third Grade Reading Data – KidsData.org
Presents statewide standardized test results showing that 56% of California’s third graders were reading below grade level in 2010.
6. 2025 Third Grade Reading Estimate – CalMatters
Investigative piece explaining that nearly 60% of California’s third graders are reading below grade level in 2025.
7. 2010 Per-Pupil Spending – California Department of Education
Official report detailing how much California spent per student in the 2010 fiscal year.
8. 2024–2025 Total and Prop 98 Spending – CTA
Summary of projected per-pupil funding in 2025, including Proposition 98 and additional state allocations.
9. 2024 Prop 98 Breakdown – Ed100
Provides accessible explanations and figures for Proposition 98 funding and how it impacts per-student spending.
10. 2020 National Data – EducationData.org
Offers national comparisons of per-pupil education spending, showing how California’s investments stack up.
11. 401(k) and Private Prisons – Investopedia
Explains how retirement funds and institutional portfolios may be unknowingly invested in private prison companies.
12. Public Pension Funds & Private Prisons – The Guardian
Investigative report detailing how public pension funds in the U.S. are invested in private prison firms.
