I was a school board member for more than ten years, so I appreciate the struggles faced by California’s schools, large and small. Since between 80% and 90% of any school’s budget goes to teacher salaries and benefits, discussions about school-funding always influenced by opinions (pro and con) about teacher’s unions and the control they exert on California’s (dysfunctional) educational system. For better or worse, California is union shop. They only way around this is a school voucher program and, to a lesser extent, charter schools – both return control to local communities and – most importantly – parents.