Today, the State Superintendent of Public Instruction and the California Department of Education quietly released California’s 2022-23 Statewide Assessment Results. The report card paints a grim picture on how schoolchildren are learning and retaining information across the state.
“California used to be one of the top performing states in the country for K-12 education. Now, too many of California’s schools are letting parents and students down,” said Senator Shannon Grove (R- Bakersfield).
“When 50% of California’s kids are failing to meet Basic English standards, it’s time to rethink our current system. Parents should be able to choose the best education option for their children by allowing student money to follow the child to another choice of school. We have to stop accepting the status quo, stop funding systems, and start funding students. The constitution provides for a free public education, it doesn’t say it has to be in a government building,” concluded Senator Grove.
Earlier this year, California Senate Republicans made Investing In Studentspart of their priorities to Fix California. Included in that effort was Senate Bill 293 authored by Senator Grove. Now signed into law, SB 293 requires the California Department of Education (CDE) to make this statewide assessment available by October 15 of each year.
“Parents should be appalled by how badly Democrat policies have let their children down. These numbers lay out a pretty clear case that whatever we are doing does not work,” said Sen. Scott Wilk (R-Santa Clarita), member of the Senate Education Committee. “One party rule is failing our kids. Let’s put politics aside, and prioritize getting our schools back on track.”