MONDAY, JUNE 1, 2026
Let's take a look at the record: Are California's public schools some sort of uniquely bad? A person might have received that impression from what this unnamed gentleman said:
...[NAME WITHHELD] Fawns Over ‘Authentic’ Spencer Pratt in Podcast Appearance
[...]
During one especially warm moment, [NAME WITHHELD] expressed his frustration over education in California, assigning blame to teachers’ unions, before asking Pratt for his answer to the problem.
“We spend a lot more trying to educate a kid in this state and do worse than places that spend way less. And part of that is because the teachers’ union is so strong,” he said.
“Are you–there’s a great question for you, Mr. Candidate. Are you strong enough to buck the unions?”
All in all, it sounded like Cali was really struggling. Skillfully, we ordered the analysts to go take a look at the record.
The youngsters examined the data. They returned with these average scores in reading and math from the most recent NAEP:
Average scores, Grade 8 Reading: 2024 Naep
California / United States
White kids: 269.15 / 265.85
Black kids: 246.97 / 242.58
Hispanic kids: 242.50 / 244.52
Asian kids: 281.70 / 279.62
Two or more races: 267.29 / 261.42
Average scores, Grade 8 Math: 2024 Naep
California / United States
White kids: 287.22 / 284.46
Black kids: 252.43 / 250.83
Hispanic kids: 253.47 / 257.39
Asian kids: 307.22 / 304.64
Two or more races: 288.51 / 276.61
For all Naep data, just click here. From there, you're on your own!
The differences here aren't enormous. By a very rough rules of thumb, ten points on the Naep scale is often said to correspond (very roughly) to one academic year.
The differences aren't huge. But California's white, Black and Asian kids slightly outperformed their counterparts nationwide. California's Hispanic kids slightly underperformed their nationwide peers.
Regarding spending, the World Population Review has California ranked 14th highest among the fifty states in per pupil spending. Now for the rest of the story:
Cali ranks only 33rd highest among the fifty states in per pupil spending as a percentage of taxpayer income.
Plenty of money is almost surely being imperfectly spent, in California and elsewhere. That said, are some other states doing much better while spending much less?
Given the history of such competitions, we're very, very, very slow to sign on to "miracle" stories. (Over the course of the past fifty years, the experts have tended to be the last ones to know.)
That said, Cali's kids are scoring roughly like the nation's kids overall. The statewide per pupil spending lags far behind that of big spenders like New York, Vermont, New Jersey, Connecticut.
Everyone knows all about public schools. It has ever been thus!
"almost surely"
ReplyDeleteLOL!