California Should Copy the ‘Mississippi Miracle’ in Education

Students sit with their laptop computers at St. Joseph Catholic School in La Puente, Calif., on Nov. 16, 2020. Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images

Commentary

“‘Mississippi miracle’: Kids’ reading scores have soared in Gulf South states,” AP just reported. It noted educators in other states with low test scores no longer can say, “Thank God for Mississippi.” That’s a cliché also in California, where journalists are wont to say of low test scores, “California is nearly as bad as Mississippi.” Not anymore.