DeSantis Campaign Press Release - California's School Closures Led to Mass Learning Loss Under Newsom

Under Gavin Newsom, California schools indoctrinate students with a leftist agenda while depriving students of basic education. Out of all 50 states, California ranked last for in-person learning during COVID, because Newsom kowtowed to a major political donor: the teacher's union.

• By June 2021 – 15 months after schools closed statewide for COVID – only half of California school districts had reopened. These were mostly rural districts, meaning that the majority of California students were still locked out of school a year and a half into the pandemic. San Francisco, Sacramento, and Los Angeles Counties each had less than 10% of their districts report in-person instruction as their primary mode in June 2021.
• Newsom gave the teacher's union a year-long paid vacation, and in 2021, the teacher's union sent Newsom $2 million in donations to help him beat the recall.

Think tank CalMatters noted that extended school closures in California increased achievement gaps, because wealthy families (including the Newsoms) were able to send their children to private schools that opened far sooner than public schools. In California's largest school district, Los Angeles Unified:

• About 72% of the district's students are not meeting state standards in math
• About 58% of students are behind in English
• The achievement gap grew due to school closures: 83% of Black students, 78% of Latino students and 77% of economically disadvantaged students did not meet the math standards.
• California has the second lowest literacy rate of any state, ahead of only New Mexico.
• Studies show that learning loss does not only hamper future educational and career achievement – it results in a shorter life expectancy.

CalMatters concluded: "The educational deprivation that California inflicted on its kids is not only shameful, but will reverberate for decades. Children who fail to master the basics of education in lower grades will be ill-prepared for high school and post-high school training and education. If they are not prepared to take their place in the work force, the state's economy will suffer."