School performance fell sharply during the pandemic, as liberal governors shuttered schools for prolonged periods and required masks at the expense of learning. Children became pawns in the tyrannical measures taken under the guise of responding to Covid. The last full year before Covid was 2019, and it was the last year of 50 million students enrolled in public schools. That total has since fallen, and experts predict a long-term decline in public school enrollment for decades into the future.
Massachusetts has long been ranked at the top nationwide in student achievement. Now the Bay State has dropped to a 19-year low in its performance as the Democrat-controlled state pushes Leftist ideology in schools. The biggest declines in performance were by minorities and low-income students, and children who did not learn English at home. Throughout the rest of our country, the decline in student achievement and increase in illiteracy is shocking. In Pennsylvania, the 3rd graders reading with the expected level of proficiency dropped from 60% to 50% over the last three years.
Proving once again that he is in touch with ordinary Americans, Donald Trump selected education for the first video message of his 2024 presidential campaign. Trump also emphasized education in addresses in the early primary states of New Hampshire and South Carolina. Trump boldly calls for empowering parents to directly elect school principals, to hold them accountable for their failure to teach basic skills.
Make no mistake, the fight to take back our schools is a culture war. How can we expect young people to fall in love with reading when just about every book more than a few decades old is considered racist, sexist, or otherwise ‘problematic’? Real books on our school library shelves have been replaced with anime and manga, which are more of a pipeline to cartoons than to the classics. If the rising generation is to have a chance to make a difference, they must learn how to read. After that, they must be taught to love to read. Those two essential elements open a doorway for success and achievement that no oppressor can close. Parents see it and voters see it. The only question is, will candidates see it?
This post originally appeared at https://www.phyllisschlafly.com/family/education/voters-care-about-education/
Phyllis Schlafly