With the release of new student test scores that show prolonged school closures negatively impacted academic performance, the challenger in the Superintendent of Public Instruction race has been visiting with families across the state, conveying to voters how his plan would work to get things turned around.
Both state and national test scores released in late October have heightened education issues as critical for voters, Lance Ray Christensen told the Northern California Record.
The race is non partisan and Christensen said his message is resonating across the political spectrum.
“People understand our schools have gone off the deep end, and we've got to take them back,” Christensen said.
But the incumbent, Tony Thurmond, has declined to debate Christensen and declined the Record’s requests for comment on his plans to address the learning loss.
“My first impressions of the low scores are manyfold; the government and teacher union response to Covid and locking kids out of classrooms proved to be an unmitigated disaster on academics,” Christensen said. “We already know the impact it’s had on their mental, emotional, and social states but it’s pretty much decimated years of increased academics in any of these schools, and it’s set [many] of our K-12 publicly educated kids behind in their future careers.”
Thurmond’s campaign has raised millions from teachers’ unions. Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, has recently called for pandemic amnesty on Twitter: “The disruption was everywhere, and it was bad regardless of whether schools were remote or in person.”
Christensen said unions have too much sway in the authority over local school budgets and curriculum, but that he will advocate to give a voice to parents while allowing teachers to teach.
“And give them the tools and resources necessary to overcome the learning loss,” said Christensen, who’s been endorsed by community groups, media outlets, and student advocates from across the state.
“I want to make sure that parents know they have a voice in their children's education,” Christensen said. “They're not cut off simply because they can't get through to their local administrators. They will have someone in Sacramento with an open door to their concerns.”