The American education system yet again proves to be riddled with problems as hundreds of schools drastically underperform across the country.
A concerning report about education in Illinois has come out: An increasing number of students are awful in basic subjects. In 2019, 21 schools had 0 students proficient in reading, and 37 schools had 0 students proficient in math. In 2023, 32 schools had 0 students proficient in reading, and 67 schools had 0 students proficient in math.
Unfortunately, Illinois is not alone in its academic failure. Twenty-four charter schools in Nevada dramatically underperformed last year, as well as 40% of schools in Baltimore that reported having 0 students proficient in math. These are only three examples of a nationwide educational epidemic in which American children, statistically, are getting dumber.
There are several factors that play into this, some being more prevalent than others. The first and most evident cause is the COVID-19 pandemic. The entire world was thrown into mass hysteria, which compelled most of humanity to lock down in their homes in isolation from school and human contact for a few months to even years in some places.
Children being deprived of school and socialization had serious ramifications on their education. They spent so long out of the loop on learning that they essentially had to play catch-up, which was a failing plan from the start. Online school conducted by teachers who did not understand communication technology combined with an inability to enforce classroom attentiveness made teaching from home totally ineffective.
Poor grades have also been caused by the multifaceted crisis of inner turmoil that has been fuming in children for the past few years. There has been a noticeable uptick in cases of suicide, suicide attempts, and self-harm. The nation is suffering an exponential rise in child anxiety, depression, and mental health disorders. These internal problems are demoralizing and distract students from their studies and focus.
Attention has been diverted further away from school work and toward misbehavior, crime, and violence. In 2021, 66% of educators reported that students generally had been behaving worse than before the pandemic started. In 2023, after the craze had subsided, that number rose to 70%. Chronic absenteeism nearly doubled from over 8 million to over 14 million students regularly ditching classes.
It is important to note that while COVID-19 is largely responsible for greatly exacerbating pre-existing problems with the education system, a net negative contributor to child education the past few years has been a broad and excessive push for diversity, equity, and inclusion in classrooms too. Regularly telling children that they will never be able to climb out of a hole because of who they are, confusing them on the most fundamental aspects of their identities, and smothering them in explicitly divisive thoughts is a guaranteed way of making them act violently and suicidal.
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The final major external factor is the teacher shortage. Due to dissatisfaction with the workplace and lower wages, teachers have left the field in droves. This has forced schools to desperately fill what vacancies they can with unqualified teachers. Nearly 10% of practicing teachers are designated as unqualified. The gaps could be filled by more if candidates were smarter, but only 45% of them are smart enough to pass the basic teaching qualification test.
The American education system is an absolute mess that is continuing to worsen, and at the cost of our children, who soon will be running the country at an equally underperforming level.
Parker Miller is a 2024 Washington Examiner Winter Fellow.