Calif. Students Thriving Despite Budget Woes

A new state report shows that California public school students continue to make academic progress despite state budget cuts to education.

The state Department of Education said Monday that 46 percent of schools reached the target score of 800 on the state 1,000-point Academic Performance Index in 2009-2010. That's up from 36 percent the previous year.

The state's Accountability Progress Report found that the statewide API score increased 13 points to 767. The achievement gap among different ethnic groups also is narrowing slightly.

The average API score was 685 for blacks, 715 for Latinos, 838 for whites and 889 for Asians.

Despite that progress, fewer elementary and middle schools reached the annually increasing academic targets set by the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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