The forgotten subject: California’s failure to assess history education

By Sheridan Karras
04/30/2026
Why students’ history proficiency goes unmeasured, and how a politicized framework is undermining classroom instruction. California has no reliable way to measure whether students are meeting state history and social studies standards. In Gavin Newsom’s State of the State speech in January 2026, he claimed that California has seen “improved academic achievement in every subject...

TAGS: education, education reform, student performance

The Reading Crisis: Why Illiteracy Threatens California’s Future and What We Can Do Now

By Lance Christensen, Sheridan Karras
09/16/2025
The 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) results for Grade 12 reading are out — and the numbers are grim. Only a staggering 35 percent of high school seniors nationwide were proficient in reading. Nearly one in three graduates struggles to draw basic conclusions from a text, a skill essential for everything from voting...

TAGS: literacy, student performance

The $137 Billion Question: What Are California’s Schools Delivering?

By Sheridan Karras
09/04/2025
With schools back in session and the state budget finalized, the question of what California spends on public education — and what it delivers in return — is at the forefront of many parents’ and taxpayers’ minds. California has among the highest per-pupil spending in the nation, but questions persist about whether California families are...

TAGS: academic performance, education, education budget, education spending, student performance

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Lights, Camera, Growth: How Paramount’s Bet on 30 Films a Year Could Propel California’s Economy

California’s entertainment industry doesn’t need another taxpayer-backed “rescue” from Sacramento. It needs the freedom to experiment, compete and succeed without politicians inserting themselves into the middle of the process. In this new California Policy Center report, Lights, Camera, Growth: How Paramount’s Bet on 30 Films a Year Could Propel California’s Economy, economist Jeff Ferry analyzes...

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