Schools & Communities First
For the past 40 years, there has been a growing gap in expenditures between high- and low-spending school districts in California, and these differences in spending have hit Black communities hardest:
- Black students now have scores below the state average on
Math and English proficiency. - The 3rd grade math proficiency rate for Black students is 30%,
while the California average is 50%. - The 3rd grade English language arts proficiency rate for Black students is 31%,
18 percentage points lower than the California average of 49%. - When it comes to high school graduation rates, Black students average 70.8%
compared to the California average of 82.3%.