California students’ academic achievements continue rising under the Newsom administration
Reported byCalifornia State Portal
Read the full story at California State PortalAI-assisted summary
Gov. Gavin Newsom announced statewide results for the 2025-2026 school year at a middle school in Downey. This is a state press release, and it says California students improved in English language arts, math and science for a third straight year. It also reports that chronic absenteeism fell across all grade levels and that suspension rates are at their lowest since 2019, excluding the pandemic years.
The state says 71% of students scored Developing, Proficient or Advanced in English, 61.8% in math and 86.5% in science. It says science results are above pre-pandemic levels. According to the release, Black, Hispanic or Latino, low-income and homeless students posted gains that matched or exceeded the statewide average in several subjects. State Superintendent Tony Thurmond and State Board of Education President Linda Darling-Hammond both said progress is encouraging but more work remains.
The release highlights three districts. Downey Unified, Exeter Unified and Union Elementary each saw gains of at least 1.5 percentage points in the share of students at Proficient or Advanced in all three subjects. Each superintendent credited a mix of data use, literacy work and student supports.
The state also points to $151.4 billion in TK-12 funding in the 2026 Budget Act, a $2.4 billion special education increase, and a community schools program set to expand to 3,700 more sites.
Why it matters
The results give families, educators and board members a statewide look at achievement, attendance and discipline, along with the programs and funding the state credits. Because the source is a state government release, readers may want to compare it with local data and independent analysis.
- Test scores
- Chronic absenteeism
- Student discipline
- Literacy
- Math achievement
Written with AI from the publisher's article and may contain errors. The original reporting is the authoritative source.
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- Which of the state's reported measures, such as test results, attendance or suspensions, would be most useful for judging our own schools?
- How could our district check whether the programs credited for gains in other districts would fit our students' needs?
- What further information beyond a state press release would help families understand how local students are doing?
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