"These scores are a reflection of the fact that our schools are underfunded. When you have class sizes of more than 30 kids to a teacher, when you have high teacher turnover rates because we underpay educators, and when you don't address the nonacademic barriers to learning in our communities of high poverty, you see these achievement gaps persist," she said in an email. "It's not enough to talk about test scores — kids are never going to test their way out of poverty."