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!
CA is the 4th largest economy in the world, it's educational system is not perfect nor the best, but it obviously is doing just fine.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeletegood news
Trump administration plans to drop DOJ’s $1.8B ‘lawfare’ fund, reports say
The idea that CA spends more but low-spending states outperform it has been a right wing talking point forever. It used to be based on misleading test scores on the SAT, where Southern states had far higher averages because (1) those Southern states take the ACT not the ACT, so those taking the SAT are self-selected because they intend to apply to places such as Stanford and Berkeley, and (2) only the top students in the South wind up taking the SAT because they do not need it to get into Eastern and Southern schools, whereas all students in CA take the SAT. Some high schools require them to take it, while anyone intending to apply to the UC or CalState systems will be taking it.
ReplyDeleteSo a small sliver of the top Southern students are taking the SAT and their average is being compared to the average for the entire college-going senior class in CA, including students heading for less competitive schools. It is not a fair comparison but the right has promoted that kind of data for decades, and apparently is still saying the same things.
Somerby says he automatically disbelieves academic miracles, but that isn't the kind of swindle being played here. He should be looking behind the data to see where the means come from and how the groups being compared are formed. That is basic to using statistics, something Somerby has never seemed adept at doing.
typo correction: take the ACT not the SAT (taken predominantly by those applying to Western schools including CA colleges)
DeleteIt is always amusing when a know-nothing maligns an expert as "always the last to know". Somerby has no background in education other than as an elementary and middle school teacher.
ReplyDeleteIn this case, it isn't that CA has uniformly worse schools than anywhere else, but that it has far larger numbers of non-English speaking students and disadvantaged minority students in its largest urban areas and these groups have lower means and tend to bring the overall average down. CA is much more bilingual, multicultural and diverse than many other states. That CA is doing well despite these challenges speaks well for its schools.
I get very tired of Somerby's negativity toward schools. I get it that he didn't respect his pupils or his colleagues when he was in the classroom himself, but most teachers know more about child development, history and goals of modern education, and how to deliver curriculum effectively than Somerby ever learned via Teach for America. I am glad every day that he decided to change his career path when the Vietnam war ended because he made way for someone better qualified to deal with the challenging kids in Baltimore's inner city. If anyone shouldn't be a teacher, it is a guy like Somerby with his bad attitude and lack of education or training.
A poorly qualified teacher is exactly the kind of person who would despise teachers unions. After all, they are trying to improve outcomes for students and maintain high standards for their profession.
Delete"(Over the course of the past fifty years, the experts have tended to be the last ones to know.)"
ReplyDeleteKnow what? (Not an expert.)
Why did Somerby leave Bill Maher's name out of his headline?
ReplyDeleteThe idea that teacher's unions are too powerful and that they are bad for education is a long-standing right wing talking point too. Why is Maher feeding it as a softball to Pratt? Maher has no kids and no experience himself with the CA public schools. He went to high school in NJ and college at Cornell, in Ithaca NY. He has no kids. Why is he peddling right wing memes?
Pratt is a Donald Trump wanabee running for LA mayor. Electing him would be a disaster, but I doubt there are enough rednecks to pull it off without Russia funding, but why is Maher helping him?
And why is Somerby shielding Bill Maher from the consequences of his own stupidity? Pratt is stupider than Lauren Boebert. He would destroy the system Los Angeles has created for dealing with earthquakes and fires, diversity in a school district where children speak 130 different languages, where "Around 44% of the district's students are designated as English Learners or fluent in multiple languages." He will be ineffective and out of step in a place where Kamala Harris got 64% of the vote and Donald Trump got only 31% (worse than his current favorability rating nationwide). Someone like Pratt does not belong as Mayor of Los Angeles, so why is Maher promoting him?
Teacher's unions are important to the success of CA schools because they care about students, have the expertise to help them, and because they have no ulterior motives the way politicians and bureaucrats, no competing goals or interests, the way Pratt obviously does. Democrats tend to have a history of supporting labor and do not see students and teachers in competition with each other but as allies, the way teachers themselves do. It is odd that Somerby does not see that. I find myself wondering whether he has understood any of those Pete Seeger or Woody Guthrie songs he has been quoting over the decades.
"“Are you–there’s a great question for you, Mr. Candidate. Are you strong enough to buck the unions?”
ReplyDeleteThus Bill Maher aligns himself with an idiot who thinks that the way to improve public schools is to starve them by giving them less money to work with.
If Pratt "bucks" the teachers union, how will the schools cope with the cutbacks of funding from the now dissolved Dept of Education (such as funding for special ed and students with disabilities)? Are schools supposed to absorb that loss while cutting teacher pay? This is a complex topic that doesn't deserve slogans in place of real solutions.
DeleteSomerby should know better.