California students, especially those of color, are not receiving a quality education because of poor conditions and inadequate materials, according to a survey of teachers statewide.

A majority of teachers, 82 percent, also advocated giving local schools more control over spending.

Public school systems have textbook shortages, overcrowded classrooms, run-down buildings and too few qualified teachers, according to the 1,056 teachers surveyed by phone.

"This survey of teachers provides a window into the conditions that many teachers and children experience daily in California's schools," said Kristi Kimball, assistant program officer for the Hewlett Foundation, which funded the survey.

Key findings in the Harris poll include:

• 53.9 percent of science teachers do not have enough equipment and materials to do science lab work.

• 50.3 percent of social studies teachers do not have enough maps and reference materials.

• 32.3 percent of teachers who use textbooks say there aren't enough for all students to take home.

• About 30 percent of teachers report evidence of cockroaches, rats, or mice in their schools.

The poll's findings point to continuing inequities in the state's school system, particularly for many African American and Latino students, researchers said.

For example, the researchers found that schools with large African American and Latino enrollments are 11 times more likely to have more underqualified teachers than those with predominantly white students. They also are three times more likely to have severe teacher turnover.

Without the right tools, those students are receiving fewer "opportunities to learn," said researchers at the Institute for Democracy, Education and Access at the University of California, Los Angeles, which was asked to analyze the Harris findings.

Those inequities are particularly jarring, given that educators around the country are commemorating the 50th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, the historic ruling outlawing school segregation, the researchers said.

John Ennis, president of the Grant Teachers Association, wasn't surprised by the poll results. But finding solutions for those persistent inequities remains complex, and the Foothill High School teacher wasn't sure if more money was the answer.

"I'd say we need more parent involvement," Ennis said, "but the world has changed because both parents are working, and how many hours do they want to devote to their child's school?"

Secretary of Education Richard Riordan has proposed giving schools more control over budgets and curriculum, among other things.

"Teachers see that kids are not getting a fair and honest education," he said. "The main reason is that there is so little power and accountability at the school level. You have to give more teachers, principals and parents authority at the school level."

A state commission is looking at revamping school financing.

California Teachers Association President Barbara Kerr said more money would help to do the job right, but with dwindling resources, "we will have to raise taxes to get more revenue," especially in the neediest schools.

Assemblywoman Jackie Goldberg, a Los Angeles Democrat who chairs the Assembly Education Committee, said that without sufficient money schools will not reach goals.

"The problem is we don't spend enough on kids from affluent neighborhoods," she said, "and we don't spend near enough on kids who need to overcome the barriers that racial isolation and poverty create."