The pandemic opened this nation’s eyes to the dilapidated state of the education system; it is one of the few silver linings of that awful time. The last National Report Card proved that our worst fears were true.

Not only did our children suffer emotionally and socially from the pandemic, but they had taken a sharp nosedive academically. The blame game was in full force after that report card was released.

Who was to blame for the dumbing down of America’s children? It would be easy to place all the blame on the shoulders of people like teachers union chief Randi Weingarten or the COVID pandemic itself, but that would be taking the easy way out. 

The yellow line is ACT scores. The blue line is GPAs. Notice anything?

This what the participation trophy looks like when it’s district grading policy.

“Can’t read? Who cares? Pointing that out makes waves and raises uncomfortable questions so here’s an A. Now move along.” pic.twitter.com/Rk37Wx5haH

— Daniel Buck (@MrDanielBuck) October 24, 2023

Something doesn’t add up

Data is the mother of truth, so let’s look at some numbers to see what picture they paint. The recent National Assessment of Educational Progress report card showed record decreases for fourth and eighth graders in reading, math, history, and civics. 

Recent ACT (American College Test) scores for the class of 2023 were the worst they have been in three decades. Out of the class of 2023, 43% of high schoolers who took the ACT didn’t meet any of the subject matter benchmarks for English, reading, math, and science.

These scores tell us that most of America’s high school graduates would be unable to earn Bs or Cs in entry-level college coursework in the core classes. However, our kids’ grade point averages (GPAs) have been steadily increasing.

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Between the years of 2010 and 2022, GPAs increased in the below courses:

• English from 3.17 to 3.39
• Math from 3.02 to 3.32
• Social Studies from 3.28 to 3.46
• Science from 3.12 to 3.36

Essentially, 89% of high school students received an A or B in math, English, social studies, and science last year. So how do the same kids getting primarily As and Bs in high school struggle to meet basic knowledge markers on a standardized test to measure their progress throughout their educational lifecycle?

Her college debt should be forgiven and someone needs to give her a job that pays at least $100K. pic.twitter.com/diObCqj7ka

— Dr. Jebra Faushay (@JebraFaushay) October 18, 2023

Participation grades

When I was a freshman in high school, I got an A on my first actual English paper. When I brought it home to show my mom, she was less than thrilled. 

I barely followed any grammar rules and sometimes didn’t even have complete sentences. So, my mother went to the school and told my high school English teacher to change my grade from an A to one that adequately measured my writing ability.

He was shocked; he said that I got an A because of my effort and it was the best-written paper in the class. My mother got her way as usual, and my grade was changed.

This parent-teacher engagement wasn’t standard back then and certainly isn’t now. Four out of five educators say they’ve changed grades to As due to outside pressure – 33% of which they say is from parents. 

Our countries future is in the hands of kids like this! I say that all the soccer moms, helicopter parents and participation trophy crowd be drafted with them cause they created these shit for brains! pic.twitter.com/llm8ND8kzy

— Barry&CristinHibbert (@NYCFMLY) October 21, 2023

Add to that some teachers don’t want to give honest grades. High school teacher Tim Donahue admitted in his guest essay for The New York Times on grade inflation:

“I’ll confess that in my nearly 30 years as a high school English teacher, my conceptions of grading have either softened or evolved, depending on how you see it.”

He discussed the human aspect of liking the students and understanding that these grades matter more for their future than they did in the past due to the lack of emphasis on standardized tests for college admission. This brings me to the dreaded teachers unions.

RELATED: The Department of Education Just Celebrated It’s 44th Birthday. It Doesn’t Need a 45th

Testing and grades are racist!

Big Education has been railing against standardized testing, discipline, and honest grading for years, but COVID allowed them the window of opportunity they needed to push through some of their most controversial and harmful proposals. Due to the shuttering of schools during the pandemic, many colleges scrapped the requirement for standardized tests in admissions, and many are planning to continue this misguided practice.

Union bosses celebrated this move, claiming that standardized tests were a:

“racist relic of the past.”

So….One: WHY EVEN HAVE SCHOOL?!!
Two: So you’re saying minorities (blacks, Hispanics etc..) are too STUPID to get good grades and learn?! RACIST MUCH?!?