2022 Midterms Should Be About Education Also

The U.S. Department of Education just released the long-anticipated 4^th and 8^th grade math and reading scores for the 50 states on the gold-standard “Nation’s Report Card,” which was last administered in 2019.

Public schools in New York and Connecticut had massive learning losses, despite their funding munificence. New York ranks first nationally, at $25,359, in median spending per student, and Connecticut is second, $20,744,

Moreover, although Congress allocated $190 billion to the nation’s public and private schools in 2020 and 2021 during the COVID epidemic, public-school students performed abysmally on this year’s four federally-administered exams.

On the 4^thgrade reading test, average scores for the 50 states declined by 3 points between 2019 and 2022, from 219 to 216.

But New York’s scores dropped 6 points, from 220 to 2014, and Connecticut’s fell 5 points, from 224 to 219.

Since approximately 12 points equal one-year of academic achievement, the losses by students in New York and Connecticut are very troubling.

By contrast, the three top-scoring states on 4^th grade reading — Massachusetts at 227, and Wyoming and Florida, 225 each — had a combined loss of just 6 points. Massachusetts lost 4 points; Wyoming 2 points; and Florida scored identically in 2019 and 2022.

Secondly, on the 4^thgrade math test, New York students plunged a mind-boggling 10 points, from 237 to 227, and Connecticut’s dropped 7 points, from 243 to 236.

The average math score for 4^th graders in the 50 states declined 5 points, from 240 to 235.

The top-scoring states are Wyoming, 243 (down 3 points); Massachusetts, at 242 (-5 points); Nebraska at 242 (-2 points); and Florida, 241 (-5 points).

Since there is an intense rivalry between Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and New York Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul, both of whom will be judged by the voters on Nov. 8, it is noteworthy that the Sunshine State trounced the no-longer Empire State in 4^th grade reading by 11 points, or 225 to 214.

In 4^th grade math, the gulf was even wider, at 14 points: Florida at 241 and New York, 227.

Interestingly, Florida’s median spending per student in 2019 was $9,670, or less than half of New York’s and Connecticut’s profligate expenditures.

Connecticut’s hapless Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont is also running for re-election on Nov. 8, whose students suffered an unconscionable loss of 28 points on the four exams.

Thirdly, in 8^thgrade reading in 2022, the national average score for the 50 states dropped 3 points, from 262 to 259.

But Connecticut had a disastrous loss of 6 points, from 270 to 264. New York’s score was unchanged at 262.

The top-scoring states in 8^th grade reading are New Jersey, 270 (same score as in 2019); Massachusetts, 269 (down 4 points); and Utah, 265 (-2 points).

Florida’s scores were 263 in 2019 and 260 in 2022. Thus, the state’s middle schools must improve in this critical discipline, and on 8th grade math, during the next two years, to advance into the top educational tier of American states on each of the exams.

Fourthly, on the 8^thgrade math exam between 2019 and 2022, Connecticut’s score dropped by a horrendous 10 points, from 286 to 276.

New York’s fell by 6 points, from 280 to 274.

The national average plunged by an abominable 8 points, from 281 to 273.

The top-scoring states in 2022 in 8^th grade math are Massachusetts, 284 (down 10 points from 2019); Idaho, 282 (- 4 points); and Utah, 282 (-3 points).

Florida’s 8^th grade math results also fell an atrocious 8 points during the last three years, from 279 to 271.

Unsurprisingly, America’s top K-8 school system, on the 2022 Nation’s Report Card, is again the DoDEA, or the “Department of Defense Education Activity.” In a July 2021 Newsmax article, I documented that these Pentagon schools had the highest scores on the 2019 “Nation’s Report Card.”

Furthermore, the Pentagon’s schools suffered no learning losses between 2019 and 2022.

In 4^th grade reading in 2022, DoDEA students scored 235 (same as in 2019), which is a significant 8 points higher than their counterparts in second-ranked Massachusetts, at 227.

In 4^th grade math, the DoDEA score was 250 (same as in 2019), which is 7 points higher than second-ranked Wyoming, at 243.

In 8^th grade reading, DoDEA scores improved 2 points between 2019 and 2022, from 280 to 282. Second-ranked New Jersey, at 270, lagged by 12 points, or an entire academic year.

In 8^th grade math, DoDEA scores were the same for the last two exams, at 292. Massachusetts ranks a distant second at 284.

Finally, President Joe Biden and many Democratic governors and mayors are primarily responsible for the unprecedented failures on the 2022 “Nation’s Report Card.”

One week before Election Day, Republican candidates for local, state and federal offices should hone-in on their educational abominations.