The Californer - California: Governor Newsom announces graduation rates and academic achievements continue improving

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Nov 13, 2025

Governor Newsom announces graduation rates and academic achievements continue improving

Improvement in 2025 follows significant investments & reforms in TK-12 public education

What you need to know: Outcomes for California students — across all student groups — continue to improve following significant investments by the Newsom Administration.

SACRAMENTO — Governor Gavin Newsom today announced the results of the 2025 California School Dashboard, showing continued improvement by all California students — across all key indicators.

The more we can invest time, energy, and resources into our kids, the better their future can be. Whether that future consists of college or jumping right into our state's workforce, we are going to continue our shared commitment to ensuring students and educators have the resources they need to be successful and pursue their California Dream.

Governor Gavin Newsom

Our children thrive when we invest in their potential. That means helping them build early literacy skills, providing mental health support, and ensuring access to nutritious and free school meals. I am thrilled to see such positive outcomes for our students which underscores California's success in developing innovative initiatives that give our children the best start in life.

First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom.

The 2025 School Dashboard

⬆️ California's graduation rate has continued to make steady progress and is now at its highest in eight years (since 2017) at 87.5%.

⬆️ Graduation rates have risen for many specific student groups, a testament to California's investment in students of all backgrounds.

4.1 percentage point increase for Pacific Islander students
3.5 percentage point increase for African American students
3.3 percentage point increase for Long-Term English Learners
2.8 percentage point increase for foster youth; and
2.7 percentage point increase for students with disabilities

⬆️ College and career readiness has also increased by 3.1 percentage points statewide.

Notably, for the first time in the history of the Dashboard, all indicators are "yellow" or "green," reflecting that all key student outcomes are showing improvement, consistent with the improving student test scores announced last month.

This continued improvement of all student outcomes follows California's significant investments in TK-12 education, including Community Schools, Expanded Learning, Universal Meals, and Literacy Coaches and Reading Specialists.

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"Seeing modest improvement on every Dashboard indicator should encourage us to deepen our investments in every child's progress," said State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond. "We can see that strategies like community schools and literacy coaches are making a positive impact for the whole child. I am proud of our work to narrow persistent achievement gaps in student outcomes like graduation rate, and we must not rest until all students' outcomes represent their brilliance and potential."

"Today's Dashboard results show California continuing to make important strides in post-pandemic recovery – we're getting more students re-engaged in the classroom, graduating students in greater numbers, and getting more of them prepared for college and careers," said California State Board of Education President Linda Darling-Hammond. "And, as we saw with the recent release of statewide assessment data, our students are making strong progress academically as well. We know there is still much work to do in the years ahead to continue this progress, but these results are an encouraging start."

School districts across the state have experienced significant increases in student outcomes, demonstrating California's targeted investments are accelerating academic progress for students statewide.

Governor Newsom's commitment to K-12 education

The continued improvement visible in the 2025 School Dashboard data comes as a result of California's continued prioritization of investing in K-12 public education, with a focus on accelerating learning and prioritizing equity. The 2024 Budget Act provided $133.8 billion in total K-12 education funding – the highest per-pupil state funding ever for California students.

Additionally, the state has invested billions to expand access to Governor Newsom's historic "Transitional Kindergarten" — supporting tens of thousands of four-year-old children with the aim of improving Kindergarten readiness and long-term student outcomes. The most recent state budget allocated an additional $215 million to build on previous investments in the Literacy Coaches and Reading Specialists Grant Program, which supports the development of school literacy programs and interventions to help students in need of targeted literacy support. And, California was the first state to provide two free meals for all public TK-12 students.

Recently, Governor Newsom continued to build on his record of investing in and support of California students, signing AB 1454 by Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas (D-Salinas), which will increase access to the tools, training, and resources educators need to help students become better readers and increase literacy rates in California. And this year marks the first year California students are being screened for reading challenges in grades K-2 — to better assess potential support needed for long-term success.

These critical investments ensure all public school students are ready to learn, further driving positive outcomes. Governor Newsom has made key investments into before- and after-school programs equipped with high-impact tutoring and enrichment opportunities for K-6 students. This investment helps working families with consistent afterschool care and additional resources for their students' success.

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Keeping the Golden State on track

The California School Dashboard is a key component of the state's school accountability system, which includes the latest data on graduation rates, suspension rates, test scores, English Learner progress, the college/career indicator, chronic absenteeism, and local indicators.

More information about the California School Dashboard is available on the California Department of Education Dashboard Resources web page.

Learn more about the positive outcomes produced by the Governor's investment here.

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