As our own Jessica Calefati has reported, California public schools tell a tale of two education systems. The achievement gap that separates well-off and needy students mirror the socioeconomic and racial disparities across the state. In 2017, 44 percent of white eighth-graders were deemed “proficient” or above on state math tests, while only 10 percent of black students and 15 percent of Latino students met that mark.

Gov. Jerry Brown and the California Legislature have tried to close that gap by changing how public dollars are divvied up across school districts, but with limited success.

What would the next governor do? Watch for yourself below.

CALmatters senior editor Dan Morain included this video in his daily newsletter this morning (sign up!). And it’s in our comprehensive voter guide, where you can find everything you need to know about the coming primary election—who the candidates are, which propositions you’ll be asked to decide on and a whole lot more.

YouTube video

We want to hear from you

Want to submit a guest commentary or reaction to an article we wrote? You can find our submission guidelines here. Please contact CalMatters with any commentary questions: commentary@calmatters.org

Byrhonda Lyons is a national award-winning video journalist for CalMatters. She creates compelling multimedia stories about how California policy affects people’s everyday lives. From the state’s mental...

Ben covers housing policy and previously covered California politics and elections. Prior to these roles at CalMatters, he was a contributing writer for CalMatters reporting on the state's economy and...