California School Test Scores Plummet – But Will Voters Demand Change?

California education bureaucrats tried to delay the release of state proficiency test scores until after the November election – and now we know the reason why.

After public outcry, the state relented and released the school proficiency data – and the scores show a steep decline in reading and math achievement for 3rd through 11th grade.

The test scores cover 10 large school districts and represent over 1 million students. The districts include Los Angeles Unified, San Diego Unified, Fresno Unified, Long Beach Unified, Sacramento City Unified, Bakersfield City School District, and more.

Of the most shocking results, only 13% of students in Bakersfield met the state standard for math, and only 41% of students in Los Angeles Unified were proficient in reading.

Heather Hough, director of Policy Analysis for California Education, blamed the results on mostly Covid-19 related issues, saying 2022 “turned out to be another pandemic year.”

But Carl DeMaio, chairman of Reform California, says the excuse is “grossly dishonest” and that the real cause is poor quality of the schools and a “fixation” with controversial and politically-charged curriculum on subjects that have nothing to do with basic academic topics.

“It’s not the Covid pandemic that caused failing schools in California — it’s the extreme and divisive curriculum being taught in the classroom,” said DeMaio.

“Parents see that student academic achievement is plummeting, but school officials seem focused on divisive political topics rather than doing what is best for the children,” DeMaio continued.

DeMaio points to the EdSource data, which shows test scores have been in sharp decline since 2019. A year before the Covid-19 pandemic.

DeMaio also points to other states that also experienced Covid but did not experience the same dramatic reduction in academic achievement of students.

“Could Covid have made the problem worse?” asked DeMaio. “Absolutely, but it’s not the driving force — and if parents or concerned community members dare to question the results we can see with our own eyes, these officials behave disrespectfully and gaslight the community into thinking anything but themselves are to blame,” DeMaio continued.

Even worse, DeMaio says the California Department of Education is trying to cover up the test score data. The government has held back the results from the rest of California’s school districts until the end of October.

“This just illustrates the corruption — the government, unions, and Left-wing groups are all attempting to shield the status quo and keep Left-wing incumbent school board members in office in November,” said DeMaio.

But DeMaio still believes the new data will help motivate parents to change the school system — as they prepare to vote for new school board members on November 8th for California’s general election.

DeMaio and Reform California have been actively recruiting reform-minded candidates for these local school board races who would respect input from parents, remove controversial curriculum from the classroom, and fix failing schools — which they call their “School Board Reform Initiative.”

Reform California has now sponsored or endorsed over 125 of these candidates, who appear in their annual “Plain English” voter guide at ElectionGuideCalifornia.org.

In addition to using and sharing the voter guide to help elect these candidates, DeMaio is urging concerned parents to join the campaign to fight the radical lesson plans in California.

“If you want to improve our schools and get the toxic curriculum out of the classroom, the time to join the fight is NOW,” DeMaio concluded.