This week, Governor Newsom’s Department of Education presented data to the State Board of Education on the results of statewide student assessments that showed dismal results for California school kids.
The administration, however, is cherry-picking assessment data to paint failure as success. The data, released just last month and presented to the Board today, clearly shows an ongoing failure among California public schools to educate students adequately despite annual funding for school budgets consistently exceeding more than $100 billion.
In fact, here is the part of the story the governor and his administration doesn’t want you to learn, and it includes some startling numbers for the 2023-24 school year:
- Approximately 3,093,975 or 53% are below standards in English.
- More than 3.7 million students or 64% are failing to meet math standards.
- Approximately 4 million students or 65% do not meet science standards.
California Senate Republicans are sharing the rest of the story – the part the governor doesn’t want you to see – in an effort to expose the Newsom administration and how it manipulates data on issues ranging from crime to the economy, the environment and more.
“Our state’s public schools play a crucial role in building the educational foundations that help our kids grow and prepare to thrive,” said Senator Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh (R-Yucaipa), vice-chair of the Senate Committee on Education. “It is a true tragedy that well over half of our young people are simply not learning what they need to succeed at school and in life.”
The data details the damning results of the department’s most recent statewide student assessments. In a press release, the Newsom administration touted the “continued gains” and “accelerated success” of a public school system that, while slightly improved from the previous year, continually fails to meet basic educational goals for over 50% of students in every measured category.
California’s public schools have an enrolled student body of approximately 5.8 million children. While not all students are tested every year, the data offers an adequate sample size for assessing the state’s entire student body. Funding for California’s K-12 public schools varies, but it consistently exceeds more than $100 billion annually. In the 2022-2023 school year, that number was $127 billion.
Following the Newsom Administration’s attempt to hide students’ poor test scores from the 2021-22 school year, Senator Shannon Grove (R-Bakersfield) introduced legislation, now law that mandates the CDE to release test scores annually by October 15.
“We know that children suffered academically with remote learning and many continue to fail to meet basic educational standards. This law will help everyone – parents, teachers, researchers, and policymakers, figure out exactly where students are struggling and ensure they get the academic help they need to succeed,” said Senator Grove.
California Senate Republicans are sharing the rest of this story with you in an effort to expose how the Newsom administration manipulates data to obscure the ugly truths it simply doesn’t want the public to see.