Public Education Contines to Falter

Often times when I’m out in retail public, forced to deal with late-teens and 20-somethings, I find my myself not questioning their intelligence, but rather their knowledge of things I once thought everyone should know. I separate intelligence from knowledge because they are two different things. Intelligence is basically the ability to learn, while knowledge is actually learning something... and remembering it.

As someone who almost always uses cash, I’ve lost track of how many times a young cashier had to repeatedly look at the computer screen in order to count out the correct change – something that anyone with basic math skills should be able to do with just one glance, maybe twice as to avoid a mistake. To be fair, it happens with older generations, but not as often.

I’m also stunned by studies that show how little knowledge younger generations have of what was once considered basic history. Many can’t name the first three presidents or which country we gained our independence from. Less than one-third of college students know that only Congress can officially declare war, or that ‘Government of the people, by the people, for the people,” is from the Gettysburg Address. One-third don’t know that the tilt of the Earth’s axis as it revolves around the sun determines seasons. Despite two decades of global warming paranoia, one-third don’t know that natural gas is a fossil fuel.

Last year, the average reading and math scores of American high school seniors fell to their lowest levels in two decades, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress. Reading scores for 12th graders were 10 points lower than in 1992, when the test was first administered. Math scores fell to their lowest level since 2005, when the math assessment began.

The test, administered by the National Center for Education Statistics (part of the US Department of Education) assessed approximately 20,000 12th-graders in math and reading, and 23,000 eighth-graders in science. 45% of 12th graders scored below the ‘basic’ level in math, while only 22% scored at or above 'proficient’. One-third of students scored below the ‘basic’ level in reading, with about the same scoring at or above ‘proficient’.

Many experts blame lack of attendance and online teaching due to COVID, but the decline has been happening for two decades - long before the ridiculous response to the pandemic occurred. Other experts point to other potential factors, including increased screen time and smartphone use, which spits out info at the touch of a button, no memorization required. Carol Jago, a literacy expert at UCLA, simply stated that today’s students read fewer books and spend less time with longer texts. “To be a good reader, you have to have the stamina to stay on the page, even when the going gets tough.” As for math, calculators have replaced our brain.

However, perhaps what amazes me most in education, is the number of people wanting to continue the federal Department of Education. It certainly can’t be about performance, so like most things in government, it has to be about “Follow the money!”