Failing to acquire essential knowledge and skills...

Editor's note: ...explaining why American education has gone from Johnny can't read, to Johnny still can't read and finally to Johnny doesn't even know what a book is. Johnny knows more about gaming and making money on social media platforms using AI than he does about obtaining a real education. Will Musk's DOGE audits go into the books of the Department of Education? What nightmare awaits us next there?
________

Betsy DeVos: Shut Down the Department of Education

I served as the 11th U.S. secretary of education. That's how I know it's beyond repair.

By Betsy DeVos | February 7, 2025

Since its creation in 1979, the Department of Education has sent well more than $1 trillion to schools with the express purpose of closing the gaps between the highest and lowest performers. Today, those gaps are as wide as they have ever been, and by many measures, even wider.

Last week, the latest Nation's Report Card came out, giving us a clear assessment of where student achievement stands. The report, published by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), tells us that in reading and math, most students were even further behind than they were in 2022. Which was worse than where they were in 2019. Which was worse than 2013.

How bad is it? Seven in 10 American fourth graders are not proficient readers, meaning they struggle with reading grade-level literature and comprehending informational texts. Forty percent graded out at "below basic," meaning they struggle with basic comprehension. In math, the picture is similar: six in 10 fourth graders are behind in math.

The gap between the highest and lowest performers has grown by 10 percent since 2019. Don't be fooled into believing this is a Covid-19 by-product. The lowest performing eighth-grade readers are significantly worse off than their peers were in 1992, the first year the NAEP was administered. In fact, their scores this year are the lowest in recorded history:

Please go to The Free Press to continue reading.