Bad policies, not COVID caused education declines

We have more bad news about American kids to start off the week: Newly released test scores show a steep learning loss as a result of our pandemic policies.

The National Assessment of Educational Progress, known as the nation’s report card, tests a broad sampling of fourth and eighth graders and has measured their performance since the early 1990s. The students did worse in both both math and reading, with just about a quarter of eighth graders proficient in math, compared to 34% proficiency in 2019.

Not that 34% proficiency was something to celebrate. But that’s the point. During the pandemic, scores that were already anemic plunged even more. It’s not hyperbole to call this decline catastrophic, and scores fell in nearly every state.