California Children Struggling to Recover From Pandemic Academically, Mentally: Report

First grade students prepare for class at St. Joseph Catholic School in La Puente, Calif., on Nov. 16, 2020. (Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images)

California children are still struggling to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic both academically and mentally, according to a recent report from research organization Children Now.

“Children in California ... have not bounced back from the pandemic,” Children Now President Ted Lempert said in a Jan. 26 statement. “Too many kids are not thriving today and were not thriving before the pandemic.”

The 2023 California County Scorecard of Children’s Well-Being evaluates 40 areas of well-being among children—including academic scores, health, and early childhood—for each of the 58 counties in the Golden State.

The study’s most alarming findings include few students meeting academic standards and many experiencing chronic depression and suicidal thoughts.

Students and parents wearing masks wait in line for the first day of the school year at Grant Elementary School in Los Angeles on Aug. 16, 2021. (Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images)

Roughly two-thirds of the state’s 13.5 million children fail to meet math and science standards—about a 7 percent drop from the already low pre-pandemic levels—while 57 percent can’t read at their grade levels, down 6 percent from the 49 percent in the 2018–19 school year, according to the report.

Additionally, the report revealed only 83 percent of California’s teachers were fully credentialed and qualified amid a nationwide teacher shortage.

Another one-third of the state’s children reported experiencing chronic sadness or hopelessness, while 16 percent said they considered suicide, according to the study.

In Southern California, Los Angeles County’s academic scores largely mirrored the state’s numbers, while reporting an even higher number of children—41 percent—chronically feeling sad or hopeless and 13 percent with suicidal thoughts.

In Orange County, academic numbers were slightly better.

More than half of the county’s third graders can read at their level, while 41 percent of fifth graders met science standards and 41 percent of eighth graders have satisfactory math performance.

However, Orange County’s rates of depression among children were at the statewide average, with 36 percent reporting chronic sadness or hopelessness and 14 percent with suicidal thoughts.

Students at Hewes Middle School leave for the day in Tustin, Calif., on Aug. 12, 2021. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

On the bright side, California’s graduation rate of 87 percent has slightly improved from 85 percent in 2019. Los Angeles and Orange counties’ rates also increased to 86 and 94 percent from 82 and 92 percent, respectively.

Lempert said the report was intended to be used as a guide for improvement.

“We see where we must do better for children and their families, and the time is now for our leaders to use this information and act by prioritizing kids and their families,” he said in the statement.

The director of Los Angeles Unified’s School Mental Health Department and the director of the Orange County Department of Education’s Mental Health and Wellness Care Coordination didn’t respond to a request for comment by press time.