Gov. Gavin Newsom’s worst habits were on display last week during a budget presentation in a two-minute adlib about California’s literacy efforts.
Newsom babbled. He gesticulated so wildly that it was hard to pay attention. He made numerous misstatements and half-truths. He contradicted himself three times in one sentence. He even aired grievances against his arch nemesis, Florida Gov. Ron Desantis. And all while doing so under the guise of fighting disinformation.
It perfectly encapsulated the challenges blocking a presidential run if Newsom chooses to go for it in 2028.
“Dare I, at peril, because I know we’re not nearly, I want to make this crystal clear, not nearly, well, we have a lot of work to do as it relates to closing gaps, equity gaps, in particular, but I want to acknowledge progress,” Newsom said at the conclusion of the slide on the state’s literacy efforts.
Word salad of that magnitude can only be produced on the fly. It’s like being lost in the woods and figuring if you just start walking, you’ll end up somewhere.
An aware public speaker would just stop talking or pivot to the next slide, but not that’s not Gavin Newsom.
“No state did better between 2011 and 2022 than your state of California in improving its scores,” Newsom said of 8th grade reading assessments. “Now we are, dare I say, about average.”
Immediately it was clear something was off. It’s 2025 – why does Newsom’s analysis end three years ago, especially when the 2024 scores have been released?
As is often the case with Newsom, his greatest brags are about things he had nothing to do with, like IPO filings and the size of the state’s GSP. He’s factually correct, the state did well during that time compared to other states, but he failed to mention that that was mostly under his predecessor. In fact, California’s 8th grade reading scores since just before he was elected have dropped more than double the rate they increased during the glory years he was bragging about, and are now slightly below where they were in 2011.
Meanwhile, Mississippi, one of Newsom’s red-state bogeymen, has been the nation’s success story, going from near last in 2013 to top 10 now in 4th grade reading by implementing effective teaching instruction that California has resisted (Newsom says new teaching instruction is a budget priority, though the plan leaves gaping loopholes).
Mississippi also did it at a fraction of what California spent. Since 2013, Mississippi increased spending by 54% to $12,500 per pupil to a dramatic rise in 4th grade reading scores, while California increased spending 102% to $18,600 per pupil to a net loss in 4th grade reading scores.
Newsom speaks without notes therefore deserves some grace. But it’s hard when he speaks with the unearned confidence of a door-to-door vacuum salesman (“You wouldn’t know this, but…” “No other state…” “This is really interesting!”)
Still referring to 2011 to 2022, Newsom said “no other state came close” (fact check: other states came close). He said we’re now “about average” (we’re below average). He cited the Urban Institute to declare the state is actually above average when scores are demographically adjusted (we’re 27th), but he didn’t want to “lay claim to that” (and yet, he still brought it up).
Saving the best for last, he picked a fight with Texas and Florida that was not only wrong, but unnecessary. All three states need to improve upon teaching literacy.
“And I’ll remind all of you, particularly those of you that tend to fall prey to misinformation, not disinformation but misinformation, that California’s reading scores and math scores substantially, not substantially, outperformed during COVID states like Texas, or, excuse me, notably, states like Florida. In fact, Florida in every single category” Newsom said.
It takes a special kind of ego to lecture people about being misinformed while contradicting yourself three times in a sentence.
Newsom adds: “We had less learning loss in 4th grade and 8th grade reading and math than the state of Florida. I say that because you may not know that. Some of you may immediately try to stress test that, three out of four categories we outperformed, in one category we tied.”
This is more or less true, but it is also mostly a diversion. The scores he’s referring aren’t administered every year and don’t fit neatly into to COVID timeframe, but looking at 2019 to 2022, the results are mixed. Florida did better in 4th grade reading and California did better in the other three categories in terms of lower learning loss. But consistently Florida had higher overall scores.
And we’re still talking about the past. In 2024, California only performed slightly better than Florida in 8th grade math and reading. But in 4th grade math and reading and both 4th and 8th grade science and writing Florida did better.
Does it really matter though? No parent is satisfied knowing that California’s 8th grade testing averages are one or two points higher than Florida, especially those with kids who are falling behind.
To be clear, more than half of the California’s students do not meet the state’s own standards in reading and nearly two-thirds are insufficient in math, so Newsom’s bizarre brags fall flat.
Newsom’s Florida obsession is simply a manifestation of his national ambitions, but his flimsy track record and inability to resist his own worst impulses will certainly derail a future campaign.
Unfortunately, Californians will be left cleaning his mess.
Matt Fleming is a columnist for the Southern California News Group. Follow him on X @FlemingWords
