New results from the “Nation’s Report Card” showing a disastrous performance by America’s K-12 students are being called a “fire-alarm fire” and feeding criticism of the union-dominated public school system.
The dismal numbers, released on Tuesday, are also amplifying concerns in the Granite State, where per-pupil spending is soaring, test results are flat, and district officials appear unaccountable.
The latest National Assessment of Educational Progress found America’s high school seniors had the worst reading scores since 1992. Their mathematics scores were the lowest since the current assessment began in 2005.
Eighth-grade students also lost significant ground in science skills, according to the results.
“This isn’t a wake-up call. We got that in 1983 with the release of ‘A Nation at Risk,’” said state Board of Education chair Drew Cline. “These NAEP report cards are more like sirens calling us to put out a five-alarm fire that’s already in progress.”
Perhaps most concerning, after decades of federal and state commitments to help struggling students, scores among students in the bottom 10th and 25th percentiles are now the lowest on record.
“These results confirm what many parents and educators already feared—our kids are not on track for college, careers, or citizenship,” said Peggy Carr, commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics, which oversees NAEP.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon said the scores show why the Trump administration wants to give states more control of education spending.
“Despite spending billions annually on numerous K-12 programs, the achievement gap is widening, and more high school seniors are performing below the basic benchmark in math and reading than ever before,” McMahon said.
These slipping test scores come as taxpayer spending on public schools hits all-time highs. In fact, U.S. public K-12 school spending jumped by nearly six percent in fiscal year 2023 alone. Adjusted for inflation, spending on public schools rose 34 percent in real dollars.
Meanwhile, data gathered by Georgetown University shows just how far New Hampshire education spending and education results have diverged over the past decade.
In a statement to NHJournal, the state Department of Education noted that “a limited number of New Hampshire students are selected to participate in the assessment” released Tuesday, which does not share state-specific results.
They also touted state results released earlier this year showing “New Hampshire’s NAEP results are above the national average and are in the top 10 percent of states for fourth-grade and eighth-grade reading, the top 12 percent of states for fourth-grade math, and the top 20 percent of states for eighth-grade math. New Hampshire continues to see academic strength and notable progress in its NAEP scores.”
In fact, while the state’s a top performer, student performance has followed the disappointing trajectory of the national numbers. Math and reading scores are lower today than in 2005, when per-pupil spending was lower.
For school choice advocates like Corey DeAngelis, the new test results are just more proof that the union-dominated education approach is failing.
“It’s time to dismantle the teachers unions,” DeAngelis told NHJournal. “They fought to keep schools closed as long as possible during COVID so they could get billions of dollars in ransom payments from taxpayers. They care about themselves, not the kids, and fight against any form of accountability whatsoever.
“Maybe if union bosses like Randi Weingarten, who makes over half a million dollars a year, focused on academics as opposed to activism, our students would be better off and could actually learn.”
Asked about what, if any, responsibility teachers unions bear for the poor education performance of Granite State students, New Hampshire NEA President Megan Tuttle declined to comment.
Education reform advocates also see a connection between the national test scores and the latest news from Claremont, where spending is above $23,000 per student, yet performance lags. The district is embroiled in a scandal over financial mismanagement that his left a $5 million hole in this year’s operating budget. Critics say that, like the declining test scores, nobody will be held accountable for the fiscal failure in the district, either.
Even left-leaning groups like the National Parents Union are outraged over the performance of America’s public school system.
“Millions of young people are leaving school with fewer skills, less knowledge, and dimmer prospects than the generations before them. It is nothing less than the betrayal of an entire generation,” the NPU said in a statement.
“This is not a blip. This is not ‘learning loss.’ This is leadership failure.”
