When analyzing a school district’s strength, a common benchmark is the graduation rate. San Diego Unified’s rate is high. For the 2024-25 school year, the district graduation rate was 90.3 percent (sandiegounified.org). This is three points higher than the national average, according to the National Center for Education Statistics (nces.ed.org). The methodology to reach this number is, however, questionable. San Diego Unified has prioritized keeping students enrolled over ensuring they learn, forcing high school teachers and students to bear the consequences.
San Diego Unified’s primary opportunity to recover missed content is summer school. The four-week program allows students to recover a credit they did not earn during the school year, and in theory, learn the skills necessary for future classes. There are serious concerns over the value of a summer school credit, though, and rightfully so. English Teacher Della June said, “I have observed the outcomes of students who attend summer school for remediation. Often, they still fall short of meeting or approaching subject standards. It can be challenging for students to achieve the same depth of understanding in a one-month summer course as they would in a year-long class.”
Summer school is not the only way the district has lowered expectations. Biology Teacher Victoria Stewart described what effective education looks like: “Education has to be a joint effort. Teachers provide instruction and resources, but the bulk of responsibility falls on the student. They have to be willing to learn and put in the effort to learn.” When the district reduces rigor, it downplays the role of the student in their own education. This does not support students; it abandons them.
The district’s decision is not irrational, and very well may be keeping some students from dropping out. According to a study funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, “Thirty-five percent [of students who dropped out] said that ‘failing in school’ was a major factor for dropping out.” The district, by reducing pressure on students, is attempting to keep students enrolled, even if they do not meet the standards.
The effects of this decision are now being felt in the classroom. “The district is playing a numbers game. High graduation rates look good on paper, but in reality, students are struggling,” said Stewart. Look no further than the district’s SmarterBalanced test results. On the Spring 2025 exams, 38 percent of eleventh-graders placed in the “minimal or developing” range for English Language Arts, and 64 percent of eleventh-graders were deemed “minimal or developing” in math (caaspp.edsource.org). These are the two lowest categories. This striking difference from the 90 percent graduation rate indicates that San Diego Unified is willing to graduate students who are not even meeting grade-level standards. The gap cannot be explained by senior year growth alone.
These issues do not just appear in high school; they are created in elementary and middle school, then exacerbated when students reach high school. “More than half of the students coming into ninth-grade biology are lacking the fundamental skills such as reading, writing, and mathematics they should have learned in elementary or middle school,” Stewart explained. Asking high school teachers to help students reach grade-level standards when they are not meeting the standards of previous grades is a difficult task.
While students may be able to manage being behind in earlier grades, when students reach high school, it becomes much more challenging. Math Teacher Keenan Pizon said, “The students who lack a number sense foundation are at an extreme disadvantage. The current grade standards become much harder to meet because they have to simultaneously catch up while grasping new material.”
San Diego Unified is not alone in this policy; it is part of the California system as a whole, where graduation no longer means mastery. According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, a University of California, San Diego report found that 8.5 percent of incoming freshmen were placed in remedial math classes, an eight-point jump from just five years ago. The report indicates that the elimination of standardized testing and grade inflation are the primary drivers of unprepared students (sandiegouniontribune.com). These same issues are driving the gap between San Diego Unified’s test scores and graduation rates. If the district continues to prioritize enrollment over mastery, its graduation rate will remain an unreliable measure of student success, and students and teachers will continue to bear the cost.