These stories remind me of my journey to college. I had a brilliant single mother who became the first in her family to graduate college. She had the same dreams for me, but she clearly understood that although talent is equally distributed opportunity is not, especially for young Black men. To support my chances at success, she spent what money she had saved to move to Culver City because she heard that the school district sent young Black men to college.

Her research proved right about Culver City. Early on, the school enrolled me in honors and AP courses. During my first week of high school, a counselor came to our class to discuss our college options. I’ll never forget Ms. Leslie Lockhart, a young Black assistant principal who took particular interest in my future. As I talked about my ambitions, she encouraged me to apply for her alma mater, UCLA. When my mother lost her job, and we eventually took refuge sleeping in my uncle’s living room, Ms. Lockhart kept her door open so I could continue to talk about my plans. When it was time to pay for college applications, I forgot about a deadline for a special UCLA program and the application was due that day. Without hesitation, Ms. Lockhart reached into her pocket and paid for a courier service to get my application to the university.

That fall, I attended UCLA. Sadly, I entered as one of only 27 Black men to get into that university based on academics alone in a freshman class of 4,000 students.

Unfortunately, not all students of color or low-income students receive the same opportunity I did. As recent national test scores show, while California claims to be a progressive beacon on the hill, it’s leaving its Black, Brown, and poor students at the base of the mountain.

California’s low-income students rank next to last in the nation in 4th-grade math. The scores also show that many persistent equity gaps remain and some have even widened. We see a backward slide for Black students in both 4th- and 8th-grade math. Also, gaps for Black, Latino, and low-income students in math widened in 8th-grade, a crucial gatekeeping year for college preparatory courses in high school. The widening gaps for Black, Latino, and low-income students serve as a reminder that we are not yet doing enough to provide supports for them to succeed.

Achievement gaps are the result of opportunity gaps, a reflection of choices we continue to make as a state. California low-income students and students of color who we’ve historically underserved continue to receive less — we deny them equal access to college preparatory courses, to college counselors as well as to diverse and effective educators, like Ms. Lockhart, who play such a vital role in supporting student success. Instead, we subject these students to discipline policies that push them out of school rather than focusing on creating a welcoming environment that helps them achieve their goals.

I believe every student has their own brilliance and talents, no matter their background or ZIP code. The onus isn’t on our youth, but on us adults to provide resources to students and educators to turn the curve of the data we see. We must also commit to dismantling the barriers in our state’s education system – a system rooted in systemic and institutional racism. A system designed over centuries to under-educate and not educate our most marginalized communities.

Over a decade after I finished my undergrad at UCLA, I realize I wouldn’t be here without those who supported my educational goals. Now, Culver City’s African American students are almost twice as likely to meet standards in math and English language arts as the state average for other Black students. And there’s more good news coming out of the Culver City community. My assistant principal, Ms. Lockhart, continued her good work and was recently appointed superintendent of Culver City Unified School District, the first Black person to ever hold that position. This district serves as a good example that with the right focus and right supports, all students have the ability to succeed.

California’s prosperity hinges on how well we educate our students. This year we will hear from individuals vying to become governor and state superintendent of public instruction. We must remind them that California’s future depends on the 6 million students currently in our schools and the millions more that will attend our schools over the next few decades. These are the students who will become the marine biologists working along our coasts, the engineers perfecting high-speed rail, and the community leaders holding our state accountable for years to come. Now is not a time for complacency but for a greater sense of urgency.

 Ryan J. Smith is executive director of The Education Trust–West, a research and advocacy organization focused on educational justice and the high academic achievement of all California students, particularly those of color and living in poverty. He is also vice president of The Education Trust.

In the historic “Is the American Dream at the Expense of the American Negro?” debate in 1965, author James Baldwin locks horns with conservative leader William F. Buckley Jr. about the significance of the American flag. “It comes as a great shock around the age of 5, 6, or 7 to discover that the flag to which you have pledged allegiance, along with everybody else, has not pledged allegiance to you,” Baldwin lamented.

While Baldwin’s quote may conjure up images of President Trump’s recent tirade against NFL athletes and the spirited protests that followed, Baldwin’s insight also rings true for the current reality faced by California’s 6 million K-12 students and the more than 700,000 students who attend LAUSD schools each day. Many of those students are pledging allegiance in our schools — but state and local leaders are turning their backs on California’s students rather than standing with them. California’s leaders are giving schools and districts permission to fail.  

Last month, California released statewide results that demonstrate whether California students are on track to be ready for college and careers. While we see some progress, overall, in both the state and in Los Angeles, improvement for student groups has slowed to a trickle.  For historically underserved students the picture gets bleaker. Three out of four Latino students did not meet standards in math, and more than two out of three African-American students are not meeting standards in English or math. Even more troublingly, gaps for English learners across the state appear to be widening in both math and English.

The scores, coupled with California’s recent education policy decisions, demonstrate California’s education leaders’ lack of urgency to address the racial gaps. The state’s new accountability plan doesn’t provide any guarantees that it will hold schools and districts responsible if they’re not improving. Furthermore, the state plan lacks clarity about how the system will support schools that need assistance. Parents will need a degree in analytics to make sense of the new, perplexing school dashboard report cards. If you don’t believe me, look up your local school here.

Without clear plans for identifying low-performing schools and concrete tangible steps for how the state will help them improve, we run the risk of denying our students their very civil right to education.

Years ago, California took steps in the right direction — adopting higher standards and investing in the implementation of those standards. Moreover, the more progressive funding system embodied in Governor Brown’s Local Control Funding Formula provided school leaders a way to focus on educational equity.

However, in an interview in April of last year, the governor made clear his own view that California’s achievement gaps are inevitable. When asked if the Local Control Funding Formula was meant to help marginalized students go on to college or a rewarding career, he stated, “Do you mean a career as a waiter? Do you mean a career as a window washer? Or do you mean something more elevated? Then who’s going to do all that other work that’s not elevated? Who does that? Or do we get robots for that?” 

In our governor’s eyes, it seems the state’s enormous racial and economic gaps in education don’t require closing because California needs a permanent underclass to fuel the economy. Sadly, we know that the governor wasn’t referring to the futures of rich, white children but of the poor children and students of color who constitute the majority of the students in our public education system.

We can’t call California progressive when it leaves low-income students and students of color languishing on the sideline. It’s time to focus on implementation of policies which includes providing deep, ongoing supports to educators that are needed to change culture and shift practice. It’s time to also make parents true partners in education by giving them tangible information that helps them know the truth about how students are doing. We’ve built the foundation, now it’s time to fill in the framework.

Also, we need to shine light on schools and districts closing gaps and showing rapid improvement every day. For example, in Boyle Heights, LAUSD’s Hollenbeck Middle School, in collaboration with the Partnership for Los Angeles Schools, nearly doubled the number of students meeting standards in math in a two-year span by focusing on a cooperative learning model. Also, the vast majority of students at Eisenhower Elementary School in Garden Grove Unified are Latino and low-income, and the school has nearly doubled the percentage of these students who are meeting standards in math and English language arts since 2014. These schools dispel myths about what schools and students are capable of and instead show us that barriers to closing gaps are about choices more than circumstances.

Maybe it’s time that education leaders across the state lock arms and take a knee on behalf of California’s students. As California is at an inflection point, the upcoming year will bring forth a cadre of individuals vying for state-level positions, including governor and state Superintendent of Public Instruction. While we have some good happening in the state, we’ll need new leadership with a clear vision to close achievement and opportunity gaps — and individuals who believe all students deserve access to the American Dream.

Ryan J. Smith is executive director of The Education Trust—West, which advocates for educational justice and the high academic achievement of all California students, particularly those of color and living in poverty. 

On Thursday, Ed Trust–West launched a new fellowship on educational equity. Read about the first eight Senior Equity Fellows here.