Thank you, California parents, for speaking up!

We don’t know how well California public high schools prepare their graduates to succeed in college. Thanks to many parents taking action, this is likely to change.

Many states already share data about whether their public high schools are helping graduates enroll in college and succeed once they get there, offering information that answers important questions, like:

• How many graduates from each public high school enroll in college?
• How many graduates enroll in vocational or trade schools, or other institutions of higher learning?
• When high school graduates get to college, are they prepared for college-level work, or do they have to take remedial classes?
• How many students return for a second year of college?

California doesn’t yet offer all of this information, but Governor Newsom has prioritized and invested in developing a system to keep track of important metrics like this so we can learn more about what’s working for our kids.

Recently, we asked California parents if they want to know whether our public high school graduates are set up to succeed, and more than 250 parents sent a message to the governor and his team to let him know this information matters to them. We are pleased to report that Governor’s team responded and they’re committed to work to include parents’ perspective as they develop the new system. GreatSchools will continue to work with partners and policymakers to help make important information available about our children’s schools.