As a doctor, I know that if my patients were doing poorer each year, someone would be suiting me for malpractice. A doctor is supposed to make his patients healthier and a teacher is supposed to make his students better educated. When that isn’t happening, something needs to change.
But that isn’t happening in the world of education. The problem seems to be Democrats who are supporting the teachers unions and defending the status quo. No less an authority than former Democratic New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is calling them out on this in The Wall Street Journal.
Bloomberg tells us many voters are still unhappy with Democratic support for excessive school closings during the pandemic. Too many elected officials, pandering to teachers unions, kept schools closed well past the point when it was clear that in-person classes could safely resume. Children paid a terrible price, and they are still paying it.
This week brought more bad news. On the most recent National Assessment of Education Progress, a test that functions as a national report card, student scores hit new lows. One-third of eighth-grade students in the U.S. are reading at a “below basic” level. Fourth-graders fared even worse: 40% were below basic. The divide between high-performing and low-performing students, which is correlated with family income, has widened.
Bloomberg says, “This is a disaster for our country and our ability to compete internationally. First and foremost, it is a disaster for our children, especially in low-income areas. Many of them are being condemned to lives of minimum-wage jobs, government dependency and, tragically, prison.”
Bloomberg is putting his money where his mouth is through his Bloomberg Philanthropies organization. It seems to be paying off as there was a bright spot in the NAEP scores. In the four localities and states where Bloomberg Philanthropies has been most active—supporting charter schools, high standards and system accountability—students bucked the national trend: Their test scores went up. They’ve shown what works in raising student achievement levels, and have the data to back it up. But instead of pursuing these proven strategies, Democrats have been fighting them.
In New York, the teachers union has fought to maintain a cap on the number of charter schools, which have dramatically raised achievement levels, even as student waiting lists grow longer. Gov. Kathy Hochul and the Legislature have refused to repeal a law prohibiting longstanding charters from receiving the same kind of rental assistance that newer charters do. The state also gives charters far less funding than traditional schools, discriminating against their students.
Bloomberg doesn’t shy from calling out his own party. He says, “For a party that speaks a great deal about equity, the Democrats ought to put their money where their mouth is. And the problem isn’t only that Democratic leaders are fighting reforms that would help students. It’s that they’re trying to pretend the education crisis doesn’t exist, in part by papering over it.”
In New York, state education officials are planning to abolish the requirement that students pass basic proficiency exams to earn a high-school diploma. Students will still take English, math and science exams, since they are required by federal law, but failing them won’t matter. High-school diplomas will become participation trophies. In Massachusetts, voters passed a November referendum eliminating a requirement that students pass tests covering math, science and English to receive a high-school diploma.
This is education malpractice and the voters must hold their public officials accountable. The problem boils down to this: Are you more concerned about supporting teachers unions or educating children? The answer may determine the future of our country.
