June 23, 2023, New York Post: When will America put out the three-alarm fire in its public schools? https://nypost.com/2023/06/23/when-will-america-put-out-the-three-alarm-fire-in-its-public-schools/
The latest round of test scores from the National Assessment of Educational Progress — “the nation’s report card” — shows achievement in reading and math among 13-year-olds tested last year has fallen off a cliff.
The math scores were the worst in more than 30 years; in reading, more than a half-century.
And poor and minority kids are suffering the most.
This is a three-alarm fire.
When will America rush to the scene? After all, the alarm was ringing in September 2022 when the NAEP put out similar dismal results for 9-year-olds.
And in October 2022, when scores triggered worries about math and reading for grades 4 and 8.
And in May 2023, when they ID’d a 5-point drop in history scores.
The latest round of test scores from the National Assessment of Educational Progress shows achievement in reading and math among 13-year-olds tested last year has fallen off a cliff. Ignore the alarm long enough, and the house burns down.
These reports come out, and everyone is shocked, shocked.
We discuss it for a few days, then move on.
Meanwhile, our kids continue to live with the repercussions of absolutely atrocious pandemic-era policies that targeted them unnecessarily….
The biggest villain for children of the pandemic, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, Randi Weingarten, continues to fail upward.
She’s still holding the gasoline and lighter at the scene of the fire, yet Team Biden and the media treat her like a firefighter instead of an arsonist.
Schools under her control stayed closed the longest.
She pushed to keep schools shut for the entire 2020-21 year, well after everyone knew they weren’t COVID spreaders….
Despite all this, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas just appointed Weingarten to the Homeland Security Academic Partnership Council….
With no possibility of Democrats holding their union allies accountable or making the kinds of changes in schools that will lead to actual results, and with the continued slide of academic performance, parents are left with few options.
That’s why school choice needs to be at the forefront of any debate about our schools….
Parents need to be able to opt out of schools that are dead ends for kids because they’re under the thumb of Weingarten & Co….
But choice is not enough; most Americans send their kids to their local public school and will keep doing so.
We’ll also need to change the culture in these schools dramatically, and quickly.
Parents need to step up and get involved in their kids’ education, even at the risk of Team Biden targeting them as domestic terrorists.
A lot of parents had their eyes opened in the last three years, but more need to enter the fray.
I talk to parents all the time who simply hope for the best from their local school.
We can’t do that anymore. The results speak for themselves.
We need a culture of transparency so parents can see what their kids are really learning.
They need to push for higher standards and expectations….
Comments