{"id":323614,"date":"2026-05-19T23:29:17","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T23:29:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/323614\/"},"modified":"2026-05-19T23:29:17","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T23:29:17","slug":"mayor-jerry-dyer-breaks-silence-on-fresno-unifieds-unacceptable-test-scores","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/323614\/","title":{"rendered":"Mayor Jerry Dyer Breaks Silence on Fresno Unified\u2019s ‘Unacceptable’ Test Scores"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer, who has historically kept quiet on education issues, is calling out low test scores at Fresno Unified School District.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, Fresno County superintendent of schools candidate Dr. Eimear O\u2019Brien hosted a news conference alongside high-profile endorsers.<\/p>\n

Dyer took the stand, expressing adamant support for O\u2019Brien and a need for improvement.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n\"\"Dr. Eimear O\u2019Brien held a news conference alongside some big-name endorsers on Tuesday, May 29. (GV Wire)<\/p>\n

The mayor, who acknowledged his rare engagement with education, specifically identified Fresno Unified as a low-performing district.<\/p>\n

\u201cClearly improvement is needed in Fresno Unified School District and throughout our county,\u201d Dyer said. \u201cFresno Unified is the third largest school district in the state of California. Yet, last year, only 37% of students met the standard category in English Language Arts\u2026 And only 27% of students met standard in math.\u00a0This is also 10% below state average, that is completely unacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n

He compared the results to the state average: 49% meeting ELA standards and 37% meeting math standards.<\/p>\n

\"2024-20252024-2025 Local school districts Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium scores (GV Wire Chart)<\/p>\n

This marks the first time Dyer has addressed the district\u2019s poor academic results as mayor. He said he was compelled to speak out because the county is at a \u201cpivotal moment\u201d in which \u201cwe are not going in the direction we need to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

He believes O\u2019Brien can support the district as Fresno County superintendent and improve student outcomes.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Brien, the former Clovis Unified superintendent, is running against incumbent Fresno County Superintendent Dr. Michele Cantwell-Copher and former Parlier Unified School District Assistant Superintendent Dr. Johnny Alvarado.<\/p>\n

See GV Wire\u2019s candidate forum here.<\/a><\/p>\n

Mayor Dyer Weighs in After Trustees Oppose SEDA<\/p>\n

Dyer\u2019s change in tone comes after the Fresno Unified School Board approved a resolution Wednesday<\/a> opposing the city\u2019s Southeast Development Area plan.<\/p>\n

Fresno Unified trustees approved a resolution opposing SEDA as initially proposed. The city is currently revising the plan.<\/p>\n

Related Story: Fresno Unified Trustees Approve SEDA Opposition After Heated Public Comment<\/a><\/p>\n

Prior to this, trustees tabled the resolution in February, saying the item did not fall within their purview. Later, a\u00a0Fresnoland report<\/a> revealed that Dyer texted trustees in February urging them to reject the proposed SEDA opposition and citing his aforementioned silence on educational matters.<\/p>\n

An identical message sent to at least four trustees says: \u201cIt is my hope that FUSD does not take a position and oppose SEDA development. That would open the door for the mayor to start engaging on educational issues which I have avoided in the past when media ask for my opinion.\u201d<\/p>\n

Additionally, Central Unified trustees voted to formally oppose SEDA<\/a> in late April. Dyer did not mention the school district in his comments.<\/p>\n

Related Story: Central Unified Trustees Make It Official: We Unanimously Oppose SEDA<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cSome school districts have decided to weigh in in an area that, quite frankly, I don\u2019t believe that they have any business talking about. Most importantly because they\u2019re uninformed,\u201d Dyer said. \u201cWhether you support SEDA or you don\u2019t, the most important thing is we support our kids.\u201d<\/p>\n

O\u2019Brien declined to take a stance on SEDA, saying her expertise is in education and it was not appropriate for her to weigh in. Dyer asserted that the two have not discussed SEDA.<\/p>\n

The 9,000-acre development plan falls within Clovis Unified and Sanger Unified boundaries \u2014 two districts Dyer applauded. Both districts have higher test scores than Fresno Unified and growing enrollment.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe saw what can happen in Sanger Unified School District. They\u2019re turning things around. We\u2019ve seen what can happen in Clovis Unified for decades,\u201d Dyer said. \u201cBut we\u2019re not seeing that right here in Fresno and Fresno Unified. And so we need to do more for our students, there needs to be an outcry.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fresno Unified was not immediately available for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer, who has historically kept quiet on education issues, is calling out low test scores…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":323615,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[112,114,113],"class_list":["post-323614","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fresno","tag-fresno","tag-fresno-headlines","tag-fresno-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/323614","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=323614"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/323614\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/323615"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=323614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=323614"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=323614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}