There are\u00a0 6,163,001 reasons \u00a0for California voters to recall Gavin Newsom on Tuesday. That\u2019s the number of K-12 students who largely are \u2026<\/b>
\nThere are 6,163,001 reasons for California voters to recall Gavin Newsom on Tuesday. That\u2019s the number of K-12 students who largely are ill-served by the Golden State\u2019s Democratic governor. California once boasted America\u2019s 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\u2019s 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\u2019s right: California\u2019s schools are more dangerous than those in every other state and DC, which was a mere 47th in safety. California\u2019s pupil-teacher ratio was ranked No.50. Only Arizona\u2019s classrooms are more packed. The latest National Assessment of Educational Progress found in 2019 that only 32 percent of California\u2019s 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\u2019s fourth-graders were proficient in math, versus 40 percent across America. Just 29 percent of eighth-graders could compute at grade level, compared to the 33 percent national average. To be charitable, California\u2019s schools are reliably below average. How bad does it get? Ask Larry Elder, the veteran conservative radio host who leads the Republican contenders who hope to unseat and replace Newsom. \u201cI went to Crenshaw HS,\u201d Elder says in a new campaign ad. \u201cIf you saw the movie \u2018Boyz N the Hood,\u2019 that\u2019s my high school. Right now, only 2 percent of kids at Crenshaw HS are math proficient. Now, who sends their kid to a school where only 2 percent of the kids are math proficient, if they have an out? We\u2019re spending almost $15,000 per student per year in California, and yet our scores are near the bottom of all 50 states. This is ridiculous.\u201d For Elder, this issue is not just academic. \u201cRecalling Gavin Newsom is personal to me,\u201d he observes in another spot. \u201cI benefited from schools, the quality of which allowed me to go from South Central to the Ivy League. That route is now foreclosed because the quality of the schools has declined. I favor school choice. He doesn\u2019t. I favor giving parents an option out. He doesn\u2019t.\u201d Elder recalled that Newsom\u2019s children enjoyed in-class education even as their father padlocked government campuses and sentenced millions of students to Zoom school. \u201cThere\u2019s absolutely no reason why children without the wealth of the Newsom family should not have the same academic opportunities,\u201d Elder tells me. The Pacific Research Institute\u2019s Lance Izumi considers Newsom a sworn enemy of school choice. \u201cUnder a 2019 law signed by Governor Newsom, local school boards can deny a charter [school] petition if it finds that the proposed charter \u2018is demonstrably unlikely to serve the interests of the entire community,\u2019 which is a carte-blanche reason to deny any charter petition,\u201d Izumi wrote early this year. \u201cIn other words, the future of charter schools in California looks very rocky at best.\u201d Indeed, on this vital matter, the Center for Education Reform\u2019s Parent Power! Index gives California a big, fat F. Beyond embattled charter schools, CER declared: \u201cThere are no choice programs in this state.\u201d Classroom-excellence advocates, including Elder, are promoting the Educational Freedom Act. This referendum would make Sacramento deposit $14,000 in every student\u2019s personal account. This sum \u2014 adjusted to match average, annual, per-pupil outlays \u2014 could help finance tuition, books, and supplies at any eligible school that parents and students select. Given the leash that the teachers unions have around Newsom\u2019s neck, he will battle this measure like a Rottweiler \u2014 unless voters neuter him on Tuesday. Think of the children. Recall Gavin Newsom. Deroy Murdock is a Manhattan-based Fox News Contributor, a contributing editor with National Review Online, and a senior fellow with the London Center for Policy Research.<\/p>\n