A disappointing report card

Your afternoon must-read briefing on politics and government in the Golden State

Oct 18, 2023 View in browser   By Blake Jones and Camille von Kaenel UNEVEN RECOVERY: California students fell behind in reading last school year even as they made up some pandemic-driven losses in science and math. The second statewide test results since the outbreak of Covid-19 are a mixed picture for schools still struggling to put learning losses in the rearview mirror. The scores published this morning showed that the percentage of students who met state standards in English language arts dipped four-tenths of a point from 2021-22, a troubling sign for pandemic recovery efforts. Math proficiency rebounded but remained far below 2019 levels. The scores offer the most comprehensive view to date of post-pandemic learning. Students took the Smarter Balanced tests last spring, at the end of the most stable academic year since Covid-era closures. Students haven't yet fully recovered from the pandemic hit to test scores. | Jeff Chiu/AP One bright spot was a 1.2 percentage point bump in the number of students testing at grade level in math. Latino and economically disadvantaged students saw some of the largest gains in that subject. Black students, perennially the lowest-performing on the test, also improved but slightly less so than the student population as a whole. They also remained far behind their white peers, a result that struck a nerve with groups that advocate for students of color. “The overwhelming majority of parents of color in California want to see their children get a college degree — but yet again, this year’s CAASPP results show the state is not supporting students of color and multilingual learners to meet those aspirations,” said Christopher J. Nellum, executive director of the Education Trust-West. California Department of Education officials pointed out that other states using the same tests saw similar, incremental movement in their reading and math scores. California also last year saw a 3 percentage point increase in the number of low-income students it educates, a group that scores lower in every state. “The promising piece is that we are seeing those gains in math and holding steady in ELA, and we're also seeing a decline in our chronic absenteeism rates” despite an influx of low-income students, Cheryl Cotton, a deputy superintendent at the California Department of Education, said in an interview. The number of students frequently missing class fell dramatically — welcome news in the face of an alarming national spike in chronic absenteeism since the pandemic. Still, chronic absenteeism rates remained more than double 2019 levels. The flat test results also lagged pre-pandemic numbers nearly across the board. Billions in federal and state aid are flowing through K-12 schools, but it’s still been difficult for leaders to erase impacts from the pandemic and close stark achievement gaps that predate it. IT’S WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON. This is California Playbook PM, a POLITICO newsletter that serves as an afternoon temperature check of California politics and a look at what our policy reporters are watching. Got tips or suggestions? Shoot an email to cvonkaenel@politico.com or send a shout on Twitter. DMs are open. WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY IF YOU NEEDED A REMINDER: Northern Californians got to practice their earthquake readiness a day earlier than expected this morning when a 4.2-magnitude earthquake began shaking near the Delta-area town of Isleton. No damage has been reported. The ground shook a day after the 34th anniversary of the Loma Prieta earthquake and a day before an annual statewide earthquake drill. So if you missed this morning’s quake, you’ll get another chance to drop, cover and hold on at 10:19 a.m. Thursday when schools, businesses and governments go through the “Great Shakeout” drill. ON THE BEATS ASK THE PEOPLE: San Francisco Mayor London Breed is placing her proposal to require drug screening and treatment for welfare recipients on the March 2024 ballot. The move sidesteps the Board of Supervisors, which appeared increasingly unlikely to support the plan. The proposal has divided San Francisco politicians, some of whom previously told POLITICO’s Dustin Gardiner they see it as a political gimmick or a move more apt for red Texas. DIVING STRAIGHT IN: California will require pools to have “smart” pumps that can adapt to conditions on the state’s electricity grid after a vote by state regulators today, reports POLITICO’s Wes Venteicher. The goal is to cut greenhouse gas emissions from California’s 1.5 million pools by shifting power use to daytime hours when solar power is abundant and cheap. Under the regulation, pool controls sold starting in September 2025 must have the technology. The rule is the first in a series of appliance requirements that will bring the state’s transition to carbon-free energy directly into people’s homes. Next up: water heaters. WHAT WE'RE CLICKING FAMILY BUSINESS: Two Sacramento men and their mother have pleaded guilty to federal charges for their roles in a national network that stole $600 million worth of catalytic converters and shipped them to New Jersey, where the precious metals inside were processed for resale. (The New York Times) THE COST OF SECURITY: UC spent nearly $633,000 on a security fence around President Michael Drake’s home in Berkeley but it failed to deter someone from breaking a window and spray-painting racial slurs on the exterior. (San Francisco Chronicle)   Follow us on Twitter POLITICO California @politicoca   Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook  |  Playbook PM  |  California Playbook  |  Florida Playbook  |  Illinois Playbook  |  Massachusetts Playbook  |  New Jersey Playbook  |  New York Playbook  |  Ottawa Playbook  |  Brussels Playbook  |  London Playbook View all our political and policy newsletters Follow us

To change your alert settings, please log in at https://www.politico.com/_login?base=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.politico.com/settings This email was sent to rouf@idiot.cloudns.cc by: POLITICO, LLC 1000 Wilson Blvd. Arlington, VA, 22209, USA Please click here and follow the steps to unsubscribe.