Yes, the “State” of our state education systems do seem to vary.

If you have school age children, and you’re living in “blue” state, and/or a “blue” city, and you give a damn about your children, you are probably feeling quite blue.

Kayla Gaskins, for The National Desk, reports that, “The state of America’s public education system is in the spotlight again after concerning new state test scores reportedly show 13 of Baltimore City’s 32 public schools had NOT ONE student test proficient in math among kids who took the 2023 state exam this past spring.”

Really?

NOT ONE?!

That would seem almost impossible.

That’s quite an impressive anti-accomplishment!

“At Baltimore’s top five schools, only 11.4% of students who took the exam scored proficient in math according to the report obtained by Project Baltimore.”

‘“It’s not acceptable where we are but that doesn’t mean that the entire system is broken,’ said Bill Ferguson, a Democrat and president of Maryland’s state senate.’”

I’m sorry, Mr. Ferguson, but it actually does mean “that the entire system is broken.”

Who are you trying to fool with your pathetic misinformation?

“Baltimore is not the only school system struggling. A new study by Arizona State University found nationwide one-third of fourth and eighth graders can’t read at a ‘basic’ level.”

“Nationwide ONE-THIRD of fourth and eighth graders can’t read at a ‘basic’ level!”

That is one hell of a lot of children who are going to be facing a severe uphill battle in life, thanks to the pathetic, democrat controlled, education systems and teacher unions.

And sadly, this inexcusably poor level of performance is not limited to “blue” states.

“During a Sinclair [Texas] town hall hosted by conservative commentator Armstrong Williams, a member of the Texas State Board of Education, Staci Childs, said the following about her former students: ‘I used to teach fifth grade, and by fifth grade you should be able to read. A lot of my students did not know how to read at all when they got to my classroom.’”

Yes, ever since our K-12 public indoctrination centers (public schools) were exposed during the “covid pandemic” (a side effect the liberal puppet masters did not see coming), the push for school choice and homeschooling have gained quite a bit of steam.

Kali Fontanilla, for The Capital Research Center, writes, “I haven’t had much hope for public education in America these last five years – that is until I read a recent speech by Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, the second-largest teachers union in America.”

“She [Weingarten] gave this speech at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, on March 28, 2023.  Actually, I wouldn’t call it a speech. It’s more of a cry in desperation. Weingarten frames the issues through the lens of an attack on our nation’s government schools. (I like the term ‘government schools’ to describe public schools because that is what they are. Schools run by the government, not the public.)”

Agreed.

‘“Attacks on public education are not new. The difference today is that the attacks are intended to destroy.’ Expanding school choice, scrutiny of curriculum containing critical race theory, parental rights legislation, academic transparency laws, banning sexually explicit books from school libraries and classrooms—Randi sees all this as a threat to the far-left teachers unions’ control over what goes on in the classroom.”

“I see this as a victory. And if Weingarten is worried, I see cause for hope.”

I’m right there with you, Kali!

“She [Weingarten] laments that many states have passed school choice laws, allowing parents to take their tax dollars elsewhere if the public school in their area is incompetent, doesn’t match their values, is unsafe, is overcrowded, and so on. ‘This year alone, 29 state legislatures are considering bills to either create or expand existing voucher programs. This is on top of the 72 voucher and tax credit programs in 33 states already subsidizing private and homeschooling, costing billions every year.’”

Kerry McDonald reports that, “Homeschooling tripled during the pandemic…”

“New Census Bureau data show that 11.1 percent of K-12 students are now being independently homeschooled. This is a large uptick from 5.4 percent at the start of the school shutdowns last spring, and 3.3 percent in the years preceding the pandemic.”

And, thank God!

Ms. Fontanilla continues, “And more state legislatures are passing school voucher programs because their voters demand it. Parents are fed up with only one choice of where to educate their child for seven hours a day. The pandemic opened the classroom to parents’ eyes, and many did not like what they saw.”

“But her [Weingarten’s] panic gives me hope. As if it wasn’t already apparent that she is afraid of losing, she goes on to share a startling statistic about the steep decline in teacher satisfaction. ‘The percent of teachers who were “very satisfied” fell from 62 percent in 2008 to just 12 percent in 2022.’ The teachers unions and their leaders are failing their members [not to mention their students]. Maybe they should spend less time focusing on all their, as she said, ‘woke agendas’ and more time on their role in leading to this alarming demise of teacher satisfaction.”

“Close to 400,000 teachers are leaving the profession every year. Every year. I was one of them in 2021. Let’s rewind to what it was like to teach in 2008 when we didn’t have to worry about being fired for not using the correct pronouns, being called a racist for suspending a defiant black student, or being unprotected because school resource officers were still on our campus. We didn’t have to worry about male genitals in female lockers rooms or students missing class because they were protesting climate change. And so on.”

“Weingarten is worried, and so for that reason alone, I’m optimistic. I have hope that the ‘attacks’ she fears are harbingers of a rising movement to take the education of our nation’s children back from the hands of radical leftists and enact the reforms we need to fix this broken system. I have hope today, perhaps not for the government schools alone, but for the nation’s education system in general: homeschools, private schools, and the reforms on public schools. American education is not lost.”

And why we don’t hear more about this from “the media” is beyond me.

I suppose it’s just more of the same liberal propaganda by omission. If it’s not good news for the democrat narrative of the day, then it just isn’t news at all.  

In the end, I completely agree with Kali Fontanilla here. If Randi Weingarten is worried, then for that reason alone, I’m optimistic.

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