Soon we will celebrate the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Across the nation, tributes will be paid to the man who gave his life to ensure that we would be free at last. Marching bands will parade down boulevards bearing his name as politicians wave to assembled crowds. Schools, parks and libraries bear his name; statues stand erect.
So many honors for a man who inspired us to dream. But are African Americans anywhere near “the promised land”?
It’s been:
• 71 years since Brown v. Board of Education ended school segregation.
• 62 years since Dr. King led the March on Washington, with one of its planks demanding school integration.
• 42 years since publication of “A Nation at Risk”. Intended as a wakeup call, it warned that our educational foundations were being eroded by a rising tide of mediocrity threatening our future as a nation.
Consider these California facts:
There are 287,380 African American students across California TK-12 public schools — 4.9% of its almost 6 million students.
Yet only 30% met or exceeded proficiency in reading (English Language Arts/ELA); 18% in math.
In one decade of California spending almost half its multi-billion budgets on education, African American students have increased proficiency by a dismal 2.34% in reading, 1.75% in math. At this rate, it would take almost a century for African American children to get to the promised land of educational equality.
Twenty California schools are named for Dr. King. Undoubtedly, every school should excel. But naming a school for a national hero should bear an even greater expectation of excellence.
Sacramento’s MLK Elementary — mere blocks from the Capitol where Gov. Newsom and a Democratic-controlled Legislature enacts education policy — 28% are reading proficient; 24% in math.
From north to south, King schools post dismal outcomes. At MLK Elementary in south Los Angeles, 24% are reading proficient; only 15% in math. At MLK Elementary in El Centro in California’s southern tip, 39% of students are reading proficient; 25% in math.
At San Bernardino’s MLK Middle School, only 16% are reading proficient; 6% in math.
Oakland’s MLK Elementary (Kamala Harris’ hometown) is only 8.39% reading proficient; 14% in math. Replacing Oakland as 2025’s poorest performing MLK school is Richmond’s MLK Elementary just north on the Bay, where — even with an increase from 2024, just 8% are reading proficient; 5% in math.
Certainly, standouts exist. Riverside’s MLK Middle School boasts 71% reading proficiency; 40% in math. At Berkeley’s MLK Middle School, 73% are reading; 65% in math. Yet, examination of the school’s demographics unveils a stark racial achievement gap with only 28% of its African American pupils reading proficient contrasted with 87% of White students. In math, only 21% of African Americans are proficient, 79% of Whites.
Brown’s intent was not to transform “separate but equal” schools into “together but unequal.”
If students can’t even read in schools named for Dr. King, can they even dream? A school named for Dr. King needs to be worthy of bearing his name.
Let’s keep going. California boasts four schools named for our first Black president, Barack Obama. Yet the two schools reporting data are among the lowest achieving: 16% in reading; 11% in math.
What about Rosa Parks, mother of the civil rights movement, with seven schools? San Diego’s Rosa Parks Elementary reports only 28% reading proficient; 18% in math. Sacramento’s Rosa Parks Elementary reveals only 13% reading proficient; 9% in math. Even the highly lauded Aspire charter school network reports its San Joaquin County Rosa Parks Academy has only 18% reading proficient; 13% in math. Berkeley’s Rosa Parks posts comparably better reading and math proficiency.
California’s one Harriet Tubman in San Diego reveals only 30% reading proficient; 22% in math. Were Tubman alive, she might advocate for launching an Education Underground Railway to rescue students from persistent, pernicious failure, thundering “Not in my name!”
As President Trump is sworn in on Dr. King’s holiday, he is auspiciously positioned to deliver on Dr. King’s proclamation of education as the promissory note to the American Dream itself. As President Trump moves to abolish a federalized education bureaucracy, he must develop viable modicums of state oversight in overcoming stark racial education disparities, expanding school choice and parental rights.
Taking this on means confronting the beasts feeding the education machine, including teachers’ unions to whom the Democratic Party has genuflected at its altars of power. Gov. Newsom’s education cronies have already launched cynical plans to obscure dismal learning failures by resorting to renaming proficiency deficits with Orwellian language.
Bowing to them to move up political ladders can no longer be stomached. Newsom should acknowledge his failure to secure educational equality for all. His “Trump-proofing” antics are symbolic of a Democratic Gov. Wallace blocking the schoolhouse to African-American students once upon a time.
Stop the parade! To honor Dr. King, President Trump should declare a national education emergency, moving with all deliberate speed to overcome the political paralysis which has perpetuated shameful generational cycles of failure. Make America Read Again—MARA—should be the rallying call. Let’s start with schools named for a King.
Gloria Romero served in the California state Senate. Follow her on X @GloriaJRomer