GREEN BAY, WI — Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) today released the following statement after the National Assessment of Educational Progress, commonly referred to as the Nation’s Report Card, showed historic drops in both mathematics and reading test scores between 2019 and 2022.“
Teachers unions and cowardly bureaucrats conspired to keep kids out of the classroom during the pandemic. Now, the nation’s report card is in, and it reveals these adults failed our kids. The historic drops in both math and reading wiped out a generation of educational gains and disproportionately impacted the students who were already struggling before the pandemic began. It will take a herculean effort to undo the damage that school shutdowns caused our kids, but if we act with urgency to prioritize phonics-based methods of teaching, re-align incentives for teachers, and turbo charge school choice, we can give Wisconsin kids the education they deserve.”
The report card showed the largest recorded decline in math scores for fourth and eighth graders and found that nearly four in 10 eighth graders failed to grasp basic math. It also found that reading scores dropped to 1992 levels.
While not a single state saw improvements in average test scores, the results were particularly jarring for Wisconsin. According to the Institute for Reforming Government, black students in Milwaukee ranked last in the nation for reading and the state of Wisconsin had the largest racial achievement gap in the country.
Last year, Rep. Gallagher laid out a plan to address the damage school closures had on Wisconsin’s kids in Wisconsin 2030: The education path to prosperity within the decade, which includes:Returning to science-backed methods of teaching reading.
Realigning incentives so schools can keep excellent teachers in the classroom.Funding all school choices equally.Making smart investments in rural broadband so all kids can access online resources.
