Exclusive | California high school grads score 4.0 GPAs but cant do basic math, professors say

California high school students are scoring more straight A’s than ever – but it’s not necessarily because they’re getting smarter, according to data and education experts. The number of college applicants reporting flawless GPAs of 4.0 or higher has doubled over the past decade even as state testing shows a post-pandemic plunge in reading and math comprehension — revealing a grade-inflation crisis that’s sending students who can’t even do fractions into top universities.Over the past decade, the number of students applying to the University of California system with straight A’s skyrocketed from 52,989 in 2015 to 103,138 for the class of 2025, with a notable jump during the COVID-19 pandemic between 2020 and 2022, according to UC data reviewed by The Post.The biggest news, opinion and culture shaping California right now.

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Never miss a story It’s part of a dangerous slide in grading standards as teachers hand out stellar marks simply for doing the bare minimum, according to critics like Glenn Sacks, who teaches social studies in the Los Angeles Unified School District.“When I was hired at one LAUSD school, the administrator showing me my classroom — a man I liked and respected — told me, ‘Don’t fail too many kids–remember, it’s easier to replace one teacher than 35 students,'” Sacks told The Post.He cited growing pressure on teachers, which started during COVID and continues today, to eliminate D’s and F’s in order to shore up enrollment and attendance.Teachers were told that a significant number of failing grades meant instruction needed to be revised, he added.Charles Cole, an education advocate who attended California high schools before graduating in 2001, told The Post that grade inflation has been brewing for decades, only to grow much worse in recent years.Cole, who a...