California Watch

California has one of the nation's worst track records in raising academic performance of minority children compared to children from white and more affluent families, according to a recent study released by the Education Trust.

That fact is expected to hamper the state's effort to compete for millions in federal education reform dollars being offered by the Obama administration, EdTrusts' analysis argues. The California Legislature has approved a bill to give parents more control over their schools, among other reforms, in order to qualify for the so-called Race to the Top funding. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is expected to sign the legislation.

The Education Trust was thoroughly pessimistic about the results: "As state leaders put the finishing touches on applications for federal Race to the Top funding, many recognize that they will never achieve the excellence the Obama administration seeks without focusing their proposals squarely on equity for low-income students and students of color," the group said.

Called “Gauging the Gaps: A Deeper Look at Student Achievement,” the new study used state data to show that the achievement gap had actually grown wider between races in California. Arizona, Michigan, Mississippi and Rhode Island also were identified as places with wide academic equity gaps. The states with better performance included Delaware, Florida, Massachusetts and Texas.

These dramatic differences should be considered when determining how much state or local leaders are advancing academic equity, as well as their readiness to make progress toward overall excellence,” said Kati Haycock, president of The Education Trust. “We can’t afford to let our education system fail yet another generation of young people simply because we refused to have honest, thorough conversations about where we stand or because we failed to do what’s necessary to get all students where they need to go. That’s patently unfair, and it’s patently un-American.