California School Closures Harmed Poor and Minority Students, Study Shows

California students lost six years of math and reading gains thanks to the state's pandemic school closures.

Learning loss was concentrated among poor, black, and Latino students, according to an analysis from the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) released this week. Only 24 percent of poor students and 15 percent of black students met math proficiency, down from 32 percent and 21 percent, respectively. The concentration of learning loss could cause problems for California Democrats, who have prided themselves on advancing racial equity.

California led the nation overall in closures as Gov. Gavin Newsom's (D.) administration catered to the state's powerful teachers' unions. In early July 2020, the California Teachers Association—consistently one of the state's biggest lobbying spenders—argued for keeping schools shuttered, even as evidence mounted that classrooms were safe for students. The union for the Los Angeles District followed suit, and by mid-July Newsom had announced that about 90 percent of California kids would be learning online.