California students face a math emergency, as newly released NAEP results show math achievement sliding to historic lows. Nationally, only about one-third of high school seniors now meet NAEP’s college-readiness benchmark in math, down sharply from pre-pandemic levels. Alarmingly, 45% of U.S. 12th graders scored below the basic level on the 2024 math assessment, the highest such percentage on record. These results come after science and reading also hit multi-decade lows, but math stands out as a core skill lagging.

California’s own scores mirror the nation’s stagnant trends. Fourth- and eighth-grade math showed only marginal changes from 2022, a slight gain in fourth grade and a flat result in eighth grade. Crucially, this means California hasn’t rebounded to its 2019 levels. Only about

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