Improving public K-12 education is at the top of the public agenda. According to surveys of the general public, many people are concerned about the quality of education that is provided in our public schools. Across the nation, considerable time and expense is being devoted to finding new ways to improve public schools.

Yet, the basic question of how well public education is performing has not been adequately answered. This report reviews the available evidence on the comparative success of California's public education system. It is a short report, because there are few good data on how well California students are learning in school compared to other states. Despite its brevity, however, the data provide important insights into how well public education is doing.

This report is divided into four sections. First, we look at the demographics of California and four comparison states. Second, we examine California's performance on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, a national test that permits good interstate comparisons. Third, we review the state's scores on the Scholastic Aptitude Test, which is taken by most college-bound students. Fourth, we discuss school dropout rates, which indirectly measure education's success in helping less-successful students