Public schools failed during COVID, so give families more choice

Perhaps in no other area did the COVID-19 pandemic have a greater impact than on education.

While government spending burgeoned, student achievement plummeted, children’s mental health suffered and schools became more dangerous, which is an outcome that demands a better solution such as giving parents greater educational choice.

During the pandemic, funding under Proposition 98, which guarantees minimum funding for K-12 schools and community colleges, spiked from $79.3 billion in 2019-20 to $110.4 billion in 2021-22 — a 39% increase.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has said, “we’ve made record investments in education.”  The big question is whether all this government spending has produced any significant bang for the buck.  The answer is no.

First, much of the state’s spending spree was undercut by the fact that Newsom presided over public school closures that lasted longer than in most other states.

The lengthy school shutdowns had a devastating effect on students who were already achieving at low levels prior to the pandemic.

For example, on the National Assessment of Educational Progress exam, often referred to as the nation’s report card, California students showed declines, especially in math.

Prior to the pandemic in 2019, 29% of the state’s eighth graders scored at the proficient level on the NAEP math exam.

In 2022, after the pandemic had started to subside, the proportion of California eighth graders achieving proficiency fell to just 23%.

The school closures hit minority students especially hard.

On the NAEP math test, just 7% of Black California eighth graders performed at the proficient level in 2022 versus 10% in 2019, while Hispanic proficiency fell from 15% to 11%.

California’s own state math test shows that the average eighth grader can only do math at a fifth-grade level.

Parents are outraged.  Megan Bacigalupi, head of CA Parent Power, said, “Distance learning set all kids back and widened already big achievement gaps.”

Besides this academic implosion, the school closures also engendered a nosedive in children’s mental health.

The California Department of Education noted that children’s social isolation, caused by the long school closures, has caused many to experience “anxiety, depression, and suicidal tendencies.”

Last year, Gov. Newsom’s press office acknowledged: “about one-third of 7th and 9th graders and half of 11th graders experienced chronic sadness in the 2020-2021 school year,” along with a 20% increase in suicide rates from 2019 to 2020 for California youth aged 10 to 18.

While Newsom increased funding for student mental health it was too little, too late, with CalMatters reporting that even those sympathetic to the governor saying “the state is playing catch-up, having failed for years to address the spiraling need.”

Schools have also seen increases in fights, bullying and crime. Northern California student Rosemary Cromwell says, “We’re so sad, so angry, so frustrated, and so scared for our lives.”

Given all these problems, Californians’ view of their public schools has soured.

Last year, a UC Berkeley poll found that only 35% of voters gave their local school district an A or B grade, which is a huge drop from the 55% that gave their districts high grades a decade previously.

Students trapped in public schools that are failing academically, that are failing to address their individual needs, and that are failing to provide a safe environment for learning should be given an exit ticket out of a failing system.

Last year, Arizona enacted a universal education savings account program that will allow parents to opt out of public schools and use public funding for purposes such as private school tuition, online education, private tutoring and other defined uses.

A recent study of ESAs found that they result in “higher lifetime earnings associated with increases in academic achievement,” large economic benefits to the state, and tax savings from reduced social costs such as crime.

During the pandemic, from 2020 to 2022, California public school enrollment fell by 271,000 students.

Families voted with their feet.  Until Sacramento and school officials figure out a way to improve the public schools, policymakers should empower parents to choose the best education that meets the needs of their children.

Lance Izumi is senior director of the Center for Education at the Pacific Research Institute. He is the co-author of the new book “The Great Parent Revolt: How Parents and Grassroots Leaders Are Fighting Critical Race Theory in America’s Schools.”