By John Ubaldi, “Ubaldi Reports”

For years we have been told that children are the future, then why does America have such a dismal educational achievement gap despite spending close to $800 billion in educational funding from the federal, state, and local level?

The educational achievement gap was horrendous before the forced government shutdown of the nation’s schools where 70% of black and Hispanic children couldn’t do math or English to grade level, but now it has gotten even worse.

Now the National Center for Education Statistics reported in August that math and reading scores for 9-year-olds across the U.S. plummeted between 2020 and 2022. It was far worse for low income and minority students who often attend low performing schools across the country.

All during the pandemic the schools were allocated billions by the federal government often with little or no accountability on how that extra funding would be spent.

Across the country the educational achievement gap is pathetic considering how much the U.S. spends only to have low achievement, so where is the accountability from our political leaders for this dismal educational outcome?

Take the state of Illinois as one example; what should have brought outright condemnation was just swept under the rug and a total indictment of the entire state’s educational system.

Wirepoints issued a stinging report condemning the entire Illinois educational system on how it educates the state’s children.

Wirepoints is an independent, nonprofit company delivering original research and commentary about Illinois’ economy and government. We have a particular focus on the Illinois state and local fiscal crises. We try to stick to policy, facts and numbers, not politics.

Inside the report it highlighted the fact that in Decatur’s public school 3rd-graders in 2019, just 2 percent of black and 16 percent of white students could read at grade level. In Rockford, it was 7 percent of black students. In in the state capital of Peoria, 8 percent of blacks. And in Elgin, just 11 percent of Hispanic 3rd-graders could read at grade level. Similar results can be found across the state.

You would think there would be accountability, but the teachers and educational bureaucracy enjoy some of the most lucrative benefits albeit supported by their union benefactors. Where is the accountability for the children of Illinois?

The same dismal educational results can be found across the country just look at the nation’s capital of Washington D.C.

Prior to the pandemic, Washington D.C. public school system had a dismal educational achievement gap where 70% unable to do math and English to grade level, which was further amplified by the forced government lockdown of the nation’s schools.

The first pre-pandemic student assessment showed a massive drop in math and reading. While reading proficiency dropped by roughly 5% for white students from 2019 to 2022, proficiency for Hispanic Latino students fell by 7%, and 7.7% for Black students. In math, proficiency rates dropped by 12% for Black students and 13% for Hispanic Latino students, compared to 8.7% for white students.

Early this year the Washington Post reported that twenty-eight percent of Black students and 30 percent of Hispanic students were considered proficient on a test administered in fall 2021, according to the data. Seventy percent of White students hit these benchmarks. In fall 2019, 44 percent of Black students and 42 percent of Hispanic students hit these benchmarks, compared with 73 percent of White students.

Where is the accountability?

The National Center for Educational Statistics reported that Washington D.C. spends on average $30,000 per student, but with all this revenue why then does the D.C. have such a dismal educational achievement especially for the 70% of its black students?

Look at the state of California, where the current Governor Gavin Newsom often at every chance he gets laminates the advantages of living in the golden state, but never mentions the dismal educational standards of the state’s children; especially for Black and Hispanic students.

The LA Times recently acquired detail from a school board document marked that was not meant for public viewing as it was titled “not for public release.”  This document showed what many had suspect about the dismal achievement of the cities K-12 students.

The Times reported that “About 81% of 11th-graders did not meet grade-level standards in math. About 83% of Black students, 78% of Latino students and 77% of economically disadvantaged students did not meet the math standards.”

Interesting fact before the pandemic 70% of black and Hispanic children were deficient at grade level in math and English, and during the forced school closure the Los Angeles Unified School District Union wanted;

  • Calling for at least $500 billion in federal funding this year, and a commitment of support over the coming years.
  • Fully fund title I, which provides federal funding to schools with a high percentage of children from low-income areas.
  • Fully fund Individuals with Disabilities Education (IDEA) of federal spending of around $12 billion.
  • Medicare for All.
  • Increase state funding.
  • Wealth Tax: A new tax on unrealized capital gains to California billionaires only, 1% a year until capital gains taxes are met. This would generate an estimated $10 billion a year initially.
  • A millionaire tax that adds 1% surtax on incomes over $1 million a year, and 3% for over $3 million a year. This would generate an estimated $4.5 billion-plus a year.
  • Defund the police.
  • Permanent Housing security.
  • Paid sick leave for all parents of children in school.
  • A total Charter school moratorium and the ending of Charter schools.
  • Financial support for undocumented students and families.

With s such a dismal academic achievement record, you would have thought they would stay low, but instead the powerful teachers union not only in California but across the nation is doubling down on continued failed educational policies hurting the very students they say they care about.

Again, where is the outrage and where is the accountability, but I guess our political class cares more about themselves or maybe they benefit as they are part of the educational industrial complex!