| From | Dawn Collier <[email protected]> |
| Subject | California’s student achievement scores are devastating |
| Date | October 28, 2022 9:25 PM |
Links have been removed from this email. Learn more in the FAQ.
Links have been removed from this email. Learn more in the FAQ.
View this email in your browser ([link removed])
** California’s student achievement scores are devastating.
------------------------------------------------------------
Dear John,
The first substantive set of K-12 student assessment scores to be published since the COVID school closures were released this week and the results for California are catastrophic.
California’s Smarter Balanced Assessment test scores ([link removed]) — designed to assess if California students are meeting grade-level standards set by the state Department of Education — should shock the conscience of every Californian. The 2022 test results show ([link removed]) :
* Two out of three California students did not meet state math standards.
* More than half of students did not meet state English standards.
* 84 percent of Black students and 79 percent of Latino and low-income students did not meet state math standards.
* 83.5 percent of economically disadvantaged eleventh grade students ([link removed]) did not meet state math standards and 55 percent did not meet English standards.
Stop and read that again.
Eight out of 10 Black, Latino and low-income students can’t meet basic math standards after Gov. Gavin Newsom gave in to the California Teachers Association (CTA) demands that K-12 public schools stay shuttered for far longer than other states during the pandemic.
California’s performance on a second set of tests released this week, “The National Report Card” published by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), was equally devastating:
* Only about 30 percent of California eighth-graders achieved proficiency in reading and about 23 percent achieved proficiency in math.
* Just 7 percent of Black students and 11 percent of Hispanic students in California scored at or above NAEP’s ‘proficient’ level for eighth grade math ([link removed]) .
Now stop and read that again.
It doesn’t matter which political party you belong to — California’s leadership or citizens should not tolerate these numbers. We should be engaging on an immediate and united, nonpartisan effort to ensure that California’s public school students can read, write and do arithmetic at grade level.
But that won’t happen because California is a one-party state and that party is wholly owned by the teachers’ unions that protect poor-performing teachers and failing schools instead of protecting kids. That’s why you will not see most legislators commenting on these scores.
The excuses for the test scores from those in charge were almost as outrageous as the test scores.
Gov. Gavin Newsom ignored the California test and focused instead on the national NAEP results because he hoped to hide California’s failure among the failing public schools in other states. Instead of acknowledging that California’s kids are in dire straits, Newsom had the audacity to enthusiastically tout his spending and education programs in an oddly enthusiastic press release ([link removed]) .
CTA president Toby Boyd also chose to respond to the NAEP results instead of California’s tests, and blamed ([link removed]) “racial, economic and other inequities that have long existed in our public education system” that were “exacerbated” by the pandemic for low student scores.
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond acknowledged that parents were rightly concerned about the scores, but claimed California did what it had to do to save lives. But Thurmond can’t cast this week’s scores as an anomaly when student achievement scores have been shockingly low for Black and Hispanic students for years.
According to CPC analysis:
* Reading: A 2015 report ([link removed]) of fourth grade reading proficiency in California showed that only 16 percent of Hispanic students and 14 percent of Black students scored “at or above proficient.” These numbers nominally increased by 2019 ([link removed]) , in which 22 percent of Hispanic students and 18 percent of Black students scored at or above the proficient level in reading during fourth grade.
* Math: A 2015 report ([link removed]) of eighth grade mathematics proficiency showed that only 13 percent of Hispanic students and 14 percent of Black students scored “at or above proficient.” By 2019 ([link removed]) , proficiency rates marginally increased to only 15 percent for Hispanic students, and decreased by four percentage points (to 10 percent) for Black students.
Sadly, the state’s “solutions” are utterly meaningless. Newsom’s plan to dump more money into school lunches and universal Transitional Kindergarten is not going to raise reading and math scores for 4th, 8th and 11th graders.
Thurmond’s endorsement of the CTA’s push to launch “community schools” in low-income neighborhoods to dole out social service benefits and health care seeks to control families’ lives, but there’s no plan to actually improve the way district schools teach English and math.
In fact, instead of acknowledging the test score disaster, California’s education officials executed a plan to deceive and confuse voters ahead of the November 8 election. The nonpartisan CalMatters reports ([link removed]) on the state’s handling of the test results release this way:
“[The California Dept. of Education] did so in a way guaranteed to complicate coverage. Reporters received the data Sunday morning, under a news embargo until 10 a.m.[Monday]. Typically, they use that embargo time to interview district officials and education experts — so releasing test score data when those sources are unavailable hinders reporters’ ability to analyze and contextualize an important measurement of the pandemic’s impact on California’s public school students …
… It’s also likely not a coincidence that the state results [were] released to the public the same day scores on a different test, the National Assessment of Educational Progress, were unveiled ..."
That’s how our corrupt and politicized government is currently working in California.
“The California Dept. of Education first planned to release state test scores after the election but, in response to the public outcry, begrudgingly released them after early voting had already begun,” said Lance Christensen, Vice President of Education Policy and Government Affairs for California Policy Center. “Then they intentionally released the scores on a weekend to coincide with the release of the national test scores to confuse voters and give themselves as much cover as possible.”
“These are the type of political operatives that are currently in charge of California’s education system,” said Christensen. “That’s why hundreds of parents are running for their local school boards this year to save our schools from the blatant political corruption that’s been on display for the last two years.”
At CPC, we’re helping to reform California’s failed public education system every day. At CPC’s CLEO, we’re training parents to run for school board through our Candidate Academy, and our soon-to-be released training will teach newly-elected school board members how to stand up to the unions in their districts. CPC’s Parent Union is bringing parent groups together to push back against the teacher unions’ agenda at the local level and in Sacramento. And, our Janus project is helping teachers leave their unions.
SUPPORT CPC ([link removed])
** Move over, California. Is Colorado the new land of opportunity?
------------------------------------------------------------
California tech companies are joining the wave of businesses fleeing a highly taxed, heavily regulated California for more business-friendly states. You can add Colorado to the growing list of states that former California employers and employees now prefer to call home.
Virta Health, a biotech company that specializes in diabetes treatment, announced in late September that the company’s headquarters would be moving from San Francisco to the Denver area. Sami Inkinen, founder and CEO of Virta, told ([link removed]) the San Francisco Business Times the decision to relocate followed a trend set by the company’s employees: A growing number of Virta Health workers had visited Colorado and decided to stay.
Inkinen said the company needed an environment “that is very pro-business and has minimal red tape.”
In other words, the opposite of California’s stifling regulatory environment.
Virta Health is not alone in migrating from California to Colorado. Shortly after Virta’s announcement, news broke that industrial technology company Trimble was moving its headquarters from California to Westminster, Colorado. CEO Rob Painter explained ([link removed]) the area “attracts a desirable, diverse and growing pool of tech talent and provides an attractive quality of life for our employees.”
In 2020, Denver welcomed Palantir Technologies, a data analytics software company. Other California-based companies including The North Face, Xero and Localwise have also made the move to Colorado.
High-profile retailer North Face moved its headquarters ([link removed]) to Denver in 2018, drawn to the state by “the job growth tax credits that represent a long-term commitment to our company.” Xero, a cloud-based accounting software company, moved to Denver from San Francisco in 2017. Xero CEO Rod Drury admitted, “It's difficult to grow this business in San Francisco.”
In 2019, the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council ranked ([link removed]) Colorado as the 12th most entrepreneur-friendly state, while California ranked 49th. The Fraser Institute’s rigorously peer-reviewed 2021 analysis of ([link removed]) [link removed] freedom ([link removed]) in North America assigned California 43rd place in the US, while Colorado ranked 17th.
Last year, Gov. Newsom told ([link removed]) Bay Area business leaders that California has to do more to fight the overtures companies are receiving from other states. “We need to step up our game — time to be more damn competitive,” Newsom said. California's best and brightest are tired of waiting.
SUPPORT CPC ([link removed])
New Podcast ()
[link removed]
** Radio Free California #248: Rank Hypocrisy
------------------------------------------------------------
Gavin Newsom used Sunday’s gubernatorial debate to cock-a-doodle his victory on a range of issues, including public education and the economy. But reality stepped in with two new rankings that show California students failing and the state economy tied up in punishing taxes. Listen now ([link removed]) .
More from CPC ()
** WATCH: KCRA interviews candidates for schools chief
------------------------------------------------------------
The election is just around the corner and KCRA interviewed both candidates for state Superintendent of Public Instruction: incumbent Tony Thurmond and Lance Christensen, CPC's Vice President of Education Policy and Government Affairs. Watch the interview ([link removed]) .
** Voting for the Kids
------------------------------------------------------------
While there’s no shortage of issues to consider when marking ballots on Election Day, education matters should be high on the list. Larry Sand surveys the national landscape on education politics in this week’s article ([link removed]) .
** Quote of the Week
------------------------------------------------------------
"In recent decades, it's hard to think of any group of political influencers that have caused greater damage to children's education and well-being than Weingarten and Pringle — and their reputations should suffer for it." — Rory Cooper in Teachers Union Bosses Must Answer for Plunging Test Scores ([link removed])
============================================================
ABOUT THE CALIFORNIA POLICY CENTER
The California Policy Center promotes prosperity for all Californians through limited government and individual liberty.
Learn more at ** CaliforniaPolicyCenter.org ([link removed])
.
** Twitter ([link removed])
** Facebook ([link removed])
** Instagram ([link removed])
Copyright © 2022 California Policy Center, All rights reserved.
We send periodic updates to those who opted in on californiapolicycenter.org
Our mailing address is:
California Policy Center
18002 Irvine Blvd Ste 108
Tustin, CA 92780-3321
USA
Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can ** update your preferences ([link removed])
or ** unsubscribe from this list ([link removed])
.
Email Marketing Powered by Mailchimp
[link removed]
** California’s student achievement scores are devastating.
------------------------------------------------------------
Dear John,
The first substantive set of K-12 student assessment scores to be published since the COVID school closures were released this week and the results for California are catastrophic.
California’s Smarter Balanced Assessment test scores ([link removed]) — designed to assess if California students are meeting grade-level standards set by the state Department of Education — should shock the conscience of every Californian. The 2022 test results show ([link removed]) :
* Two out of three California students did not meet state math standards.
* More than half of students did not meet state English standards.
* 84 percent of Black students and 79 percent of Latino and low-income students did not meet state math standards.
* 83.5 percent of economically disadvantaged eleventh grade students ([link removed]) did not meet state math standards and 55 percent did not meet English standards.
Stop and read that again.
Eight out of 10 Black, Latino and low-income students can’t meet basic math standards after Gov. Gavin Newsom gave in to the California Teachers Association (CTA) demands that K-12 public schools stay shuttered for far longer than other states during the pandemic.
California’s performance on a second set of tests released this week, “The National Report Card” published by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), was equally devastating:
* Only about 30 percent of California eighth-graders achieved proficiency in reading and about 23 percent achieved proficiency in math.
* Just 7 percent of Black students and 11 percent of Hispanic students in California scored at or above NAEP’s ‘proficient’ level for eighth grade math ([link removed]) .
Now stop and read that again.
It doesn’t matter which political party you belong to — California’s leadership or citizens should not tolerate these numbers. We should be engaging on an immediate and united, nonpartisan effort to ensure that California’s public school students can read, write and do arithmetic at grade level.
But that won’t happen because California is a one-party state and that party is wholly owned by the teachers’ unions that protect poor-performing teachers and failing schools instead of protecting kids. That’s why you will not see most legislators commenting on these scores.
The excuses for the test scores from those in charge were almost as outrageous as the test scores.
Gov. Gavin Newsom ignored the California test and focused instead on the national NAEP results because he hoped to hide California’s failure among the failing public schools in other states. Instead of acknowledging that California’s kids are in dire straits, Newsom had the audacity to enthusiastically tout his spending and education programs in an oddly enthusiastic press release ([link removed]) .
CTA president Toby Boyd also chose to respond to the NAEP results instead of California’s tests, and blamed ([link removed]) “racial, economic and other inequities that have long existed in our public education system” that were “exacerbated” by the pandemic for low student scores.
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond acknowledged that parents were rightly concerned about the scores, but claimed California did what it had to do to save lives. But Thurmond can’t cast this week’s scores as an anomaly when student achievement scores have been shockingly low for Black and Hispanic students for years.
According to CPC analysis:
* Reading: A 2015 report ([link removed]) of fourth grade reading proficiency in California showed that only 16 percent of Hispanic students and 14 percent of Black students scored “at or above proficient.” These numbers nominally increased by 2019 ([link removed]) , in which 22 percent of Hispanic students and 18 percent of Black students scored at or above the proficient level in reading during fourth grade.
* Math: A 2015 report ([link removed]) of eighth grade mathematics proficiency showed that only 13 percent of Hispanic students and 14 percent of Black students scored “at or above proficient.” By 2019 ([link removed]) , proficiency rates marginally increased to only 15 percent for Hispanic students, and decreased by four percentage points (to 10 percent) for Black students.
Sadly, the state’s “solutions” are utterly meaningless. Newsom’s plan to dump more money into school lunches and universal Transitional Kindergarten is not going to raise reading and math scores for 4th, 8th and 11th graders.
Thurmond’s endorsement of the CTA’s push to launch “community schools” in low-income neighborhoods to dole out social service benefits and health care seeks to control families’ lives, but there’s no plan to actually improve the way district schools teach English and math.
In fact, instead of acknowledging the test score disaster, California’s education officials executed a plan to deceive and confuse voters ahead of the November 8 election. The nonpartisan CalMatters reports ([link removed]) on the state’s handling of the test results release this way:
“[The California Dept. of Education] did so in a way guaranteed to complicate coverage. Reporters received the data Sunday morning, under a news embargo until 10 a.m.[Monday]. Typically, they use that embargo time to interview district officials and education experts — so releasing test score data when those sources are unavailable hinders reporters’ ability to analyze and contextualize an important measurement of the pandemic’s impact on California’s public school students …
… It’s also likely not a coincidence that the state results [were] released to the public the same day scores on a different test, the National Assessment of Educational Progress, were unveiled ..."
That’s how our corrupt and politicized government is currently working in California.
“The California Dept. of Education first planned to release state test scores after the election but, in response to the public outcry, begrudgingly released them after early voting had already begun,” said Lance Christensen, Vice President of Education Policy and Government Affairs for California Policy Center. “Then they intentionally released the scores on a weekend to coincide with the release of the national test scores to confuse voters and give themselves as much cover as possible.”
“These are the type of political operatives that are currently in charge of California’s education system,” said Christensen. “That’s why hundreds of parents are running for their local school boards this year to save our schools from the blatant political corruption that’s been on display for the last two years.”
At CPC, we’re helping to reform California’s failed public education system every day. At CPC’s CLEO, we’re training parents to run for school board through our Candidate Academy, and our soon-to-be released training will teach newly-elected school board members how to stand up to the unions in their districts. CPC’s Parent Union is bringing parent groups together to push back against the teacher unions’ agenda at the local level and in Sacramento. And, our Janus project is helping teachers leave their unions.
SUPPORT CPC ([link removed])
** Move over, California. Is Colorado the new land of opportunity?
------------------------------------------------------------
California tech companies are joining the wave of businesses fleeing a highly taxed, heavily regulated California for more business-friendly states. You can add Colorado to the growing list of states that former California employers and employees now prefer to call home.
Virta Health, a biotech company that specializes in diabetes treatment, announced in late September that the company’s headquarters would be moving from San Francisco to the Denver area. Sami Inkinen, founder and CEO of Virta, told ([link removed]) the San Francisco Business Times the decision to relocate followed a trend set by the company’s employees: A growing number of Virta Health workers had visited Colorado and decided to stay.
Inkinen said the company needed an environment “that is very pro-business and has minimal red tape.”
In other words, the opposite of California’s stifling regulatory environment.
Virta Health is not alone in migrating from California to Colorado. Shortly after Virta’s announcement, news broke that industrial technology company Trimble was moving its headquarters from California to Westminster, Colorado. CEO Rob Painter explained ([link removed]) the area “attracts a desirable, diverse and growing pool of tech talent and provides an attractive quality of life for our employees.”
In 2020, Denver welcomed Palantir Technologies, a data analytics software company. Other California-based companies including The North Face, Xero and Localwise have also made the move to Colorado.
High-profile retailer North Face moved its headquarters ([link removed]) to Denver in 2018, drawn to the state by “the job growth tax credits that represent a long-term commitment to our company.” Xero, a cloud-based accounting software company, moved to Denver from San Francisco in 2017. Xero CEO Rod Drury admitted, “It's difficult to grow this business in San Francisco.”
In 2019, the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council ranked ([link removed]) Colorado as the 12th most entrepreneur-friendly state, while California ranked 49th. The Fraser Institute’s rigorously peer-reviewed 2021 analysis of ([link removed]) [link removed] freedom ([link removed]) in North America assigned California 43rd place in the US, while Colorado ranked 17th.
Last year, Gov. Newsom told ([link removed]) Bay Area business leaders that California has to do more to fight the overtures companies are receiving from other states. “We need to step up our game — time to be more damn competitive,” Newsom said. California's best and brightest are tired of waiting.
SUPPORT CPC ([link removed])
New Podcast ()
[link removed]
** Radio Free California #248: Rank Hypocrisy
------------------------------------------------------------
Gavin Newsom used Sunday’s gubernatorial debate to cock-a-doodle his victory on a range of issues, including public education and the economy. But reality stepped in with two new rankings that show California students failing and the state economy tied up in punishing taxes. Listen now ([link removed]) .
More from CPC ()
** WATCH: KCRA interviews candidates for schools chief
------------------------------------------------------------
The election is just around the corner and KCRA interviewed both candidates for state Superintendent of Public Instruction: incumbent Tony Thurmond and Lance Christensen, CPC's Vice President of Education Policy and Government Affairs. Watch the interview ([link removed]) .
** Voting for the Kids
------------------------------------------------------------
While there’s no shortage of issues to consider when marking ballots on Election Day, education matters should be high on the list. Larry Sand surveys the national landscape on education politics in this week’s article ([link removed]) .
** Quote of the Week
------------------------------------------------------------
"In recent decades, it's hard to think of any group of political influencers that have caused greater damage to children's education and well-being than Weingarten and Pringle — and their reputations should suffer for it." — Rory Cooper in Teachers Union Bosses Must Answer for Plunging Test Scores ([link removed])
============================================================
ABOUT THE CALIFORNIA POLICY CENTER
The California Policy Center promotes prosperity for all Californians through limited government and individual liberty.
Learn more at ** CaliforniaPolicyCenter.org ([link removed])
.
** Twitter ([link removed])
** Facebook ([link removed])
** Instagram ([link removed])
Copyright © 2022 California Policy Center, All rights reserved.
We send periodic updates to those who opted in on californiapolicycenter.org
Our mailing address is:
California Policy Center
18002 Irvine Blvd Ste 108
Tustin, CA 92780-3321
USA
Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can ** update your preferences ([link removed])
or ** unsubscribe from this list ([link removed])
.
Email Marketing Powered by Mailchimp
[link removed]
Message Analysis
- Sender: California Policy Center
- Political Party: n/a
- Country: United States
- State/Locality: California
- Office: n/a
-
Email Providers:
- MailChimp