By Quintessa Williams
Word In Black
For decades, California has positioned itself as a national leader in education equity and school funding. However, new data shows that Black K-12 students in the Golden State are so far from reaching proficiency in reading and math that it will take them more than six decades to catch up.
The Ed Trust-West’s Black Minds Matter report released last week also found that only 17 percent of Black students in California have teachers who look like them compared to 87 percent of White students who have White teachers.
Given the slow pace of change, according to the report, generations of Black students will pass through a state education system that continues to fail them.
Dr. Christopher Nellum, executive director of EdTrust-West, the organization behind the report, said the findings weren’t surprising, but that doesn’t make them any less infuriating.
“How are we still doing this?” Nellum says. “How are these still the numbers we’re seeing? And why is no one else seemingly as upset about this as we are?”
What’s holding Black students back?
The BMM 2025 report highlights alarming academic disparities for Black students in California’s K-12 public school system, one of the largest in the nation. According to its findings, Black students won’t reach reading proficiency until 2070 and math proficiency until 2089 due to a range of issues, including poverty and other persistent disparities.
The data portrays a separate, unequal school system with a range of problems. 76 percent of Black K-12 students in California are socioeconomically disadvantaged; just 3 in 10 met English language arts standards, and only 18 percent are proficient in math.
In addition, Black students have a 15 percent dropout rate compared to 8 percent for White students and a 7 percent graduation rate compared to 3 percent for White students, according to the report.
Moreover, Black students in the state are still three times as likely to be suspended as White students — just like a decade ago — and chronic absenteeism increased for them in the 2023-2024 academic year from 21 percent to 33 percent compared to 16 percent for White students.
The key takeaway is that these disparities are not a reflection of Black students’ abilities but of systemic failures in California’s schools.
Why California’s crisis should alarm the nation
With the sixth-largest Black population in the United States, California’s education system is a microcosm of how public education is failing one of its most vulnerable student groups, despite having some of the strongest state-level equity policies in the country such as the 2011 Local Control Funding Formula which reformed the state’s school system to allocate extra resources to high-needs students, and the 2023 Mathematics Framework that helps reduce tracking and increase math equity for low proficiency math students.
That raises a critical question: If California, a state with resources and a progressive agenda, is still seeing such slow progress, what does that mean for Black students in conservative, less wealthy states?
“If folks—no matter where they are in this country—are interested in supporting Black students and Black communities, California should be on their mind,” Nellum says.
California also plays a crucial role in the nation’s economic future. Its $3.9 trillion economy, the largest of any state and 5th largest in the world, significantly impacts the U.S. as a whole. Nellum says if the state fails to bridge the divide between Black and White students, it could affect everyone.
“If we don’t figure out how to close these gaps, sure, California might continue to be an economic powerhouse,” he says. “But we can’t continue to be a powerhouse and allow such gaps to remain. That’s not just a California problem—that’s a problem for all the states that rely on us.”
Dismantling the DOE will surely worsen these projections
Despite the state’s wealth, Black students disproportionately attend Title I and Title III schools, which rely heavily on federal funding. Without those resources, the achievement gaps identified in the report could stretch well beyond the already dire projections of 2070 and 2089.
Recent proposals to dismantle the Department of Education could worsen these projections. If that happens, Nellum says, Black students could fall further behind.
“The Department of Education’s role is to provide oversight, accountability and protect civil rights,” Nellum says. “There’s no part of dismantling the agency that will make any of this better. It will only make it worse — and Black students will bear the brunt of it.”
The call to action: What needs to change?
One of the report’s most urgent policy recommendations is to create a state Commission on Black Education Transformation, a dedicated body with the power to transform education on behalf of Black students. In addition to allocating resources to Black student achievement, the commission would hold districts accountable for Black student progress (or lack thereof) and prioritize Black students in education funding and policy decisions.
Nellum is clear that this commission alone won’t solve everything. But after a decade of inaction since the first Black Minds Matter report, he says, it’s time for a new approach.
“We released our first Black Minds Matter report ten years ago,” Nellum says. “If what we have in place right now was working, we would have seen change by now.”
Nellum also wants Black families and communities to join the fight for accountability in education.
“If you feel like your child isn’t being served properly, you’re probably right,” he says. “And reports like Black Minds Matter give you the data to back that up. If schools and policymakers don’t listen to your story, show them the numbers.”
Beyond individual advocacy, Nellum emphasizes the importance of collective action. Parents and other interested parties should attend school board meetings, demand an emphasis on Black student achievement and push for changes like equitable funding and an increase in Black educators. If they have the time and interest, he says, they could “run for election to the local school board,” helping ensure leadership in education reflects the needs of Black students.
“Nothing changes unless we force it to change,” Nellum said. “The system isn’t going to fix itself. We have to be the ones to make it happen.”
This article was originally published by Word In Black.
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