This will be the last year of Covid-funded summer school before the pandemic relief money runs out, writes Jo Napolitano on The 74. Some school districts hope that plunging math scores will rebound over the summer. But some programs don’t have space for all the students who need help, while others can’t persuade them to show up.

Baltimore City and Cleveland are tied for worst-in-the-nation in fourth-grade math, losing 15 points on the National Assessment for Educational Progress (NAEP), she writes. Eighth-grade math scores dropped nine points in Baltimore and eight points in Cleveland.

“Just 7 percent of third through eighth graders tested proficient in math on recent state exams” in Baltimore, Napolitano reports. “At 23 Baltimore schools, not a single student tested proficient in math.” The district is offering more than 22,000 camp slots from pre-K through 12th grade for summer 2023 programming. But last summer, with 20,000 slots, only 15,000 children participated.