The Public Education Reform Imperative
A Call for Renewing the Nation’s Bipartisan Commitment to Public Education
Civic Way continues its look at public education in America, highlighting several broad themes that affect every state’s public education system. This essay focuses on the overall quality of America’s primary and secondary education system. The author, Bob Melville, is the founder of Civic Way, a nonprofit dedicated to good government, and a management consultant with over 45 years of experience improving public agencies.
The United States was the first nation in history to recognize that public education for every citizen, regardless of class or station, was vital to its future . . . – Mitt Romney
Solutions Not Accusations
Most Americans fear that our nation is on the wrong track. Our problems are mounting, and our politicians seem too divided to solve them. We may not know what needs to be done, but we sense that things could be better. That our children and grandchildren face a precarious future. That our federal, state, and local governments are capable of much more.
As the flood waters rise and escape routes vanish, however, our politicians fight over the car keys. Congressional activity, for example, is most often focused on matters of stupefying irrelevance to our lives. The firing and selection of Speakers. Hunter Biden’s shady business dealings. Politically motivated impeachment inquiries. Contrived Congressional hearings with embarrassing gotcha moments and strange “stand your butt up” taunts.
Congress’ routine responsibilities are neglected. Military aid for Ukraine and Israel, humanitarian aid for Gaza, Farm Bill renewal and appropriations bills to note a few. More daunting issues like public debt, living costs, healthcare, immigration, and public safety are exploited for political ends rather than solved for the common good. What passes for governance in the halls of Congress may be good news for those who profit from outrage, but it is terrible news for the rest of us.
It's not that we need less debate. In fact, we need more debate about issues that matter to most Americans—like jobs, inflation, education, healthcare, housing and clean air and water. We need our elected officials to think less about winning their next election and more about making our lives better. And we need them to start thinking more about our children and grandchildren, and about our nation’s future.
America’s Historic Commitment to Public Education
Public education is one issue that is foundational to our nation’s future. Once a priority around which our political parties could unite, public education has sadly become another vehicle for dividing and manipulating voters. Another grim boxing ring for trading punches, brutalizing opponents, and scoring political points. The combatants seem more consumed with winning than learning. Our children be damned.
Once upon a time, leaders of vastly different persuasions saw public education for what it truly is, the cornerstone of democracy and prosperity. The Founding Fathers, despite their disputes on many other issues, agreed that learning was essential to the American idea. After the Civil War, the nation awarded “land grants” to new states for public universities and schools. In the 1830s, Horace Mann, launched a campaign to create publicly funded (free) schools for all children. It was widely believed that these “common schools” would produce virtuous, learned, and industrious citizens and thereby enrich the nation.
By 1900, 34 states had compulsory schooling laws, 30 of which required attendance until at least age 14 (or higher). By 1910, over 70 percent of American children attended school, an estimated half of which attended one-room schools. By 1930, every state required students to complete elementary school. A broad consensus that public education was vital to the nation’s growth and competitiveness took hold.
In 1983, the issuance of A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform fueled growing concerns that America’s public education system had become second-rate and other nations had surpassed us. But the report also achieved something that rarely happens today. It triggered bipartisan reform efforts across the nation.
At the turn of the 21st century, the public school reform movement spread from states to the federal government. In 2002, with President Bush and Senator Kennedy leading the way, Congress enacted the No Child Left Behind Act and enshrined the national commitment to educational equity, achievement, and accountability. Later, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) brought standardized state reporting and assessments.
Bipartisan reform efforts were common. Cory Booker, while Mayor of Newark, worked with Governor Christie, supported charter schools, received DeVos Family Foundation funding, and earned praise from the Manhattan Institute. President Obama’s education secretary, Arne Duncan, encouraged states to embrace charters. Even Rev. Al Sharpton and Newt Gingrich joined forces to promote public school reforms.
These bipartisan public school reforms yielded some progress. For two decades or so, according to National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) results, math and reading skills for fourth and eighth graders improved. Progress, however, was uneven. Math scores rose more than reading scores, and elementary-school scores rose more than high-school test scores. While racial gaps remained, they did decline albeit modestly.
The Public Education Battleground
The pandemic dealt a severe blow to our progress. As public officials struggled to save lives, they made painful decisions to close public schools. Lives were no doubt saved, but the impact to public education was devastating, and may not be fully understood for decades. School closures and remote instruction disrupted learning, deepened social isolation, and exacerbated racial disparities.
Since 2020, the nation’s educational outcomes have markedly declined. For example, the average NAEP scores for thirteen year-olds declined 4 points in reading and 9 points in math from the 2019-20 to the 2022-23 school years, hitting the lowest levels since 1990[i]. In 2022, ACT test scores hit a 30-year low[ii]. This is not to suggest that, but for the pandemic, our earlier progress would have continued unabated. In fact, fourth and eighth grade reading scores have declined since 2017 even when adjusted for demographic variances.
The most consequential casualty of the pandemic may have been our politics. The bipartisan education reform coalition, once led by such political adversaries as Jeb Bush and Bill Clinton, was killed—or at least wounded—by the pandemic. Political opportunists, especially those on the right, quickly realized how they could turn public anxieties for school closures and mask mandates into votes.
The Manhattan Institute, once willing to support bipartisan public school reform initiatives, reversed course. Instead, it chose to join an emerging megadonor-led right-wing crusade to politicize public education and demonize public school educators. Many Democrats, once willing to challenge the major teacher unions on accountability and testing initiatives, have become more reluctant to challenge teacher unions.
A Brief Global Assessment
Amid the fog of political bickering and misdirection, one thing is clear. America’s public education system is not among the world’s best. Our educational system no longer produces graduates fully prepared to compete against the graduates of other developed nations for the jobs of the future.
The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) is the best available tool for comparing the educational achievement levels of students from the world’s developing countries. The PISA is an international educational test administered by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
Since the PISA began, US students have flirted with mediocrity. For the 2000 PISA, the first such test, US students posted math, science and reading score near the OECD average. For the 2009 PISA, US students posted math and reading scores just below the OECD average. In 2018, US students ranked 38th (of 79) in math (below the OECD average), 13th (of 78) in reading (above the OECD average) and 19th (of 79) in science (above the OECD average)[iii].
For the 2022 PISA, US relative rankings improved somewhat, but US students continued to lag behind the students of leading peer nations[iv]. From 2018 to 2022, US scores fell in every category (by 13 points in math) approaching the OECD average in mathematics and exceeding the OECD average in reading and science. Among 81 nations, the US ranked 9th in reading, 16th in science and 34th in math (18th overall). While the gap between the US and highest-performing countries widened, the US improved its comparative ranking in most categories.
A Brief National Assessment
At the jurisdictional level, many US public schools are struggling to recover from pandemic closures. From 2019 to 2021, every state experienced a significant educational proficiency drop. Since 2021, most states improved math and reading scores, but few returned to pre-pandemic levels. Educational performance varies widely by state due to several factors like family income and district resources. Large urban school districts with limited resources and high concentrations of low-income families have experienced especially stiff headwinds.
As former Education Secretary Duncan recently said, “We can quibble, or we can face the brutal truth that we’re being out educated.” Put another way, we can continue to fight amongst ourselves and pursue self-serving partisan or ideological agendas, or we can work together to improve our public education system.
A substandard education system has several real-life ramifications. More children will likely become dropouts, substance abusers and criminals. Fewer graduates will likely prosper in the global economy. And fewer Americans will be able to think for themselves, resist the empty appeals of demagogues, and engage constructively in civic affairs. The public’s declining confidence in public education will lead to a death spiral of declining public tax support for education.
We understand the problem. America’s public education system needs sweeping reforms. But we cannot solve the problem without renewing our bipartisan commitment to making it better.
In this essay, we underscore the mediocrity of America’s public education system. In the next few essays, we tackle some of the major issues threatening the future of public education and outline some potential strategies for improving it.