Some discouraging news on the education front today, and I would argue a priori that most of this is due to the ravages of the Covid Regime lockdowns and shutdowns of the government schools.
College Admission Test Scores Drop to Lowest Level in 30 Years, Media Rushes to Blame COVID
They’re talking about the ACT test. The author of this article argues that blaming this on the Covid Regime is a bit of a cop out—that this is the end result of longterm systemic breakdown. He specifically points to the teachers unions, but he does also grant that none of the causal factors are mutually exclusive. Anyway:
NARRATIVE: Many in the so-called "mainstream" media rushed to blame the decline in ACT scores on... wait for it... the COVID-19 pandemic.
REALITY: Given the hellbent drive in public school systems across America to lower educational expectations of students, with STEM — science, technology, engineering, and math — minimum graduation requirements being lowered, or eliminated entirely, is it any wonder?
…
While ACT CEO Janet Godwin said in a press release that the decline can’t be blamed exclusively on learning disruptions from online learning and missed classes when schools were locked down during the pandemic, she also claimed that “longtime systemic failures” were “exacerbated by the pandemic.”
The second story I’ll cite actually lends credence to both sides of the argument:
ARCHDIOCESE OF CHICAGO STUDENTS THRIVE. CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS STUDENTS STRUGGLE.
But nearly 3,000 low-income students enrolled in Chicago’s parochial schools will lose their scholarships if the Invest in Kids Act is not extended by state lawmakers this fall.
I’ll simply quote the bare comparative stats:
Just 20% of third through eighth graders in Chicago Public Schools could read at grade level and 15% perform math proficiently in 2022.
In the Archdiocese of Chicago, 72% of its students are at or above grade level in reading and 63% could perform math proficiently, according to its 2021-2022 progress report.
Chicago Public Reading: 20% Math: 15%
Catholic Chicago Reading: 72% Math: 63%
IL State Reading: 30% Math: 26%
National Reading: 51% Math: 47%
On the one hand, the Catholic schools hold to higher standards and have no unions. On the other hand, the Catholic schools remained open—no “remote learning”—throughout the Covid Regime.
The worrying part of this is that the teachers union is more powerful than ever, and failure breeds failure.
I’d say the problem with schools started in the 70s and been headed downhill ever since. Just about every liberal program since has contributed. I’d also say we’ve hit bottom and just burrowing deeper like a bunker buster. Who knows where it ends.
Chesterton Academies which also provide a challenging classical curriculum are expanding.throughout the country.