There are 6,163,001 reasons for California voters to recall Gavin Newsom on Tuesday. That’s the number of K-12 students who largely are …
There are 6,163,001 reasons for California voters to recall Gavin Newsom on Tuesday. That’s the number of K-12 students who largely are ill-served by the Golden State’s Democratic governor. California once boasted America’s finest government classrooms. I was highly fortunate to attend such schools in Los Angeles, from kindergarten in 1969 until high-school graduation in 1982. Back then, kids actually learned something from mainly talented teachers. My, how far that system has fallen. California’s schools are ranked No.41 overall in America, according to a WalletHub study last month. While California was a dismal 36th in quality (behind No.34, Washington, DC), it ranked 51st in safety. That’s right: California’s schools are more dangerous than those in every other state and DC, which was a mere 47th in safety. California’s pupil-teacher ratio was ranked No.50. Only Arizona’s classrooms are more packed. The latest National Assessment of Educational Progress found in 2019 that only 32 percent of California’s fourth-graders were proficient in reading, versus 34 percent nationwide. Just 30 percent of eighth-graders read at grade level, compared to the 32 percent national average. The same NAEP data show that only 34 percent of California’s fourth-graders were proficient in math, versus 40 percent across America.
