Alon, the problem is that to much is wasted on admin. and also, the schools fail when the are over run with students who don’t speak basic english, with parents who don’t get involved, with parents who don’t speak english, and with parents who think its the teachers job to babysit. If you go to schools in neighborhoods where parents are involved, they do much better. Its a matter of taking responsibility. Then you have the kids to whom we say. ” here is your free 12 year education to get you started in life, make the best of it” who turn around and show us that they have no interest in it, and further they disrupt the process for the students who do want to be there, yet schools refuse to expel the trouble makers. If we are paying for your education then you will either sit down shut up, behave and learn or get out. and THAT is the problem.

The schools may be crying poor, but that’s because they are. California’s per student spending on K-12 education is about a wash with the national average, despite the higher living costs. Among the coastal states that actually give a crap about education, California’s among the lowest spenders – blame Prop 13 and the Palo Alto “What, me pay more than 0.2% property tax?” NIMBYs for that.

MEanwhile, The things that benefit productive members of society, have a an ever shrinking budget. Look how much is devoted to consumer services. 1%. and “business, transportation and housing” combined, only 8.2 percent.

The way this translates into real terms tells the story of why so many californians are unhappy with the current state of things. We feel that we are being over taxed, yet the things we used to have in good repair, the things that benefit the working and middle class, such as roads, or being able to get a live person to answer the phone at a state agency ( dmv, consumer, or any other service) have gone downhill while the budget gets eaten up by other things. That is what is at the root of the guvs low numbers. Many of us remember a time when california had money to be state of the art, and offered a plethora of services to the middle class. Now every where one turns,, well thats not the case. ITs time to re prioritize the budget Education should be capped at one third and the administrative waste removed. The waste needs to be removed from sac as well, are those guys still getting free cars and gas? Thats freakin bullsh*t.

The way

As for Amtrak, I agree with Alon. As a whole, Amtrak is not profitable, but certain lines have higher ridership and lose less money. There was a Pew research report done recently that shows the Acela Express (closest thing to HSR in this country) makes a profit of $41 per passenger, while the more frequent and cheaper Regional loses $5 per passenger. Here’s the report:

http://www.subsidyscope.com/transportation/amtrak/