By Ben Velderman
EAGnews.org

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – It’s been said that if one wants to see what America will be like in 20 years, just look at what’s happening in California today.

If that’s true, then the future ain’t pretty.

MORE NEWS: From Classroom to Consulate Chef: Culinary Student Lands Dream Job at U.S. Embassy in Paris

The Golden State’s financial problems made national news earlier this summer when the cities of Stockton and San Bernardino declared bankruptcy.

It appears the infection has now spread to school districts, too.

The Inglewood Unified School District is in such rough financial shape that on Wednesday school leaders brainstormed ways to avoid bankruptcy, reports Southern California Public Radio.

“An exodus of students, deferred payments from the state and funding cuts have pushed Inglewood Unified’s budget $9 million into the red,” reports SCPR.org.

But there’s a tiny sliver of hope.

“Board member Trina Williams says a small increase in student enrollment this year will generate more money from the state, and the district has been appraising unused land,” SCPR.org reports.

MORE NEWS: Know These Before Moving From Cyprus To The UK

That’s right – the district may have to sell off property just to keep the school doors open.

“We got about six properties, land and building included. If we sold that I think we would be alright,” Williams told the news site.

Here’s an indication of how upside things are in the Inglewood school district: The local teacher union president is taking a more fiscally responsible view than some board members.

“They can only sell those properties once,” said Inglewood Teacher’s Association President Peter Somberg. “They still don’t deal with their structural deficit.”

Bingo! The union president gets it, but board members apparently don’t.

If residents should find that very troubling – and they should – they can take a little comfort in the fact that the L.A. County Office of Education “has veto power over financial decisions made by Inglewood Unified’s school board,” as SCPR.org reported earlier this year.

Inglewood officials lost their autonomy after the district earned a negative status from California’s Department of Education. Inglewood is one of seven school districts in the state with such a designation, the news site reports.

Which brings us back to our original point. The financial drama surrounding several California school districts likely foreshadows what the rest of the nation can expect, if lawmakers don’t take corrective action soon.

The choice facing lawmakers is this: They can follow California’s lead and let problems become so severe that bankruptcy is the only viable option, or they can copy the Wisconsin/Idaho/Indiana model and take action to fix public education’s structural deficiencies before they get out of hand.

Maybe the old adage will prove true, and the America of 2032 will look like the California of today.

But with any luck – and strong leadership – America’s future will look a lot more like Wisconsin.