‘Fail our children’: New data shows just how badly student learning suffered as schools doubled down on DEI

Student test scores remain below pre-pandemic performance, even years later, as many schools continue to focus on promoting far-left ideology over core education.

The Nation’s Report Card released its 2024 data Wednesday which revealed declining reading scores for fourth and eighth grade students and stagnant math scores for students in both grades. One-third of eighth graders, the largest percentage ever recorded, failed to reach the National Assessment of Educational Progress’s (NAEP) reading benchmark.

“When we fail our children, we fail our nation’s future,” Republican Michigan Rep. Tim Walberg, chairman of the Education and Workforce Committee, said in a statement shared with the Daily Caller News Foundation. “Today’s NAEP scores continue the concerning trend of declining performance nationwide. This is clearly a reflection of the education bureaucracy continuing to focus on woke policies rather than helping students learn and grow.”

The latest reading scores follow a downward trend that has been ongoing since 2019, with a five-point decline overall, the data shows. Math scores for fourth-grade students increased slightly by just two points since 2022.

The nation’s report card (NAEP) is out and bad news for NY.

Our electeds always tout how much they “invest” in education, NY families have gotten a pitiful ROI.

Btw, NY Ed head Betty Rosa got a $155K salary bump, now makes $489K. https://t.co/ln59TPL35t pic.twitter.com/MkYpaezrTM

— Yiatin Chu (@ycinnewyork) January 29, 2025

Roughly 40% of fourth grade students are below NAEP’s reading proficiency, the largest percentage since 2002, the report found. Also revealed by the report was a growing gap between the lowest and highest performing students, with a staggering near 100-point separation between the two groups.

Republicans have largely blamed blue states for extending school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Biden administration also drew ire for accommodating teachers’ unions by allowing them to sway national health guidance on school reopenings, according to Republicans on the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis.

Since resuming in-person learning, schools around the country have largely shifted their focus from core subjects to embedding diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), critical race theory and gender ideology.

Former President Joe Biden’s Department of Education had become overrun with DEI initiatives, with documents outlining practices to implement, required staff trainings and diversity-focused teams, all of which were swiftly dismantled by President Donald Trump within days of taking office.

Education advocates are now urging the president to pass a universal school choice initiative to help families remove their children from failing schools.

“I’m thankful we have an administration that is looking to reverse course, and I look forward to helping reform our education system to better serve our youth,” Walberg continued.

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