Thanks to a reader who passed along this AP story about soon-to-be-released recommendations for California's schools.  The lead:  "Overhauling California's schools will require tougher teacher standards and lots of money - as much as a mind-boggling $1.5 trillion per year, according to studies released Wednesday."

$1.5 trillion.  Annually.  If California has 30 million people, that's $50,000 in taxes from every citizen.  Yes, that's "mind-boggling."  And apparently it's not an early April Fool's hoax. 

The article attempts to put the $1.5 trillion figure in perspective: "...one estimate in the documents obtained by the AP says California might need to spend as much as $1.5 trillion a year to meet its performance goals, an amount equal to about half the annual federal budget."

Half the annual federal budget.  Not half the annual federal budget for education.  I'm trying to come to terms with this:  The recommendation is for California to fund its schools to the tune of half the TOTAL annual federal budget.

Nope, I still can't wrap my head around it.

UPDATE:  The LA Times tackles the $1.5 million figure: "The most eye-catching detail in three funding reports was the calculation that $1.5 trillion more each year would be needed to make all students academically proficient under the current system. That's about 25 times more than present spending for the K-12 and community college systems, which consumes about half of the state budget."  UPDATER:  MassParent comments: "Hey, I think I can achieve 98% proficiency at 20% of that cost.  Can I get the contract?"