{"id":1322,"date":"2026-08-04T08:08:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-04T08:08:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?p=1322"},"modified":"2026-08-04T08:08:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T08:08:11","slug":"the-current-status-of-american-schools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?p=1322","title":{"rendered":"The Current Status of American Schools"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Student skills are diminishing.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Recently, more than 1,800 math and science lecturers at the University of California signed an open letter outlining a distressing problem. First-year undergraduates, they say, are increasingly arriving without the basic skills needed to succeed. At U.C. Berkeley, they maintain that 20-30% of students taking an early calculus course face \u201csevere preparation deficits.\u201d The challenge has become so great, they add, that instructors are forced to reteach middle-school math.<\/p>\n

Read more Morning Greatness: Trump to Highlight Economic Record on West Coast Trip<\/a><\/p>\n

On a similar note, a shocking report on the University of California San Diego campus finds that the number of first-year students entering with math skills below the high school level has increased nearly thirtyfold over five years, to almost one in eight.<\/p>\n

Along with worries about undergraduate math skills, there are long-standing concerns about declining literacy levels. Lecturers warn that literature students cannot finish books.<\/p>\n

These problems are widespread. At Harvard, some humanities and social-science professors say they feel compelled to shorten texts, according to a report released in October. Students are entering America\u2019s most revered university with less experience reading complex prose and a reduced capacity for focus and sustainedattention andd are struggling with books they completed with ease just ten years ago.<\/p>\n

Chronic absenteeism remains a major problem. <\/strong><\/p>\n

In 2018 and 2019, about 15% of K-12 public school students were chronically absent\u2014defined as missing 10% or more of school days\u2014but by 2022, the share had risen to 28.5%. In the 2024-25 school year, after recovering from the COVID-19 school shutdowns, the chronic absenteeism rate remained high at 23%.<\/p>\n

The longer chronic absenteeism persists, the greater its impact on student learning. According to the , academic achievement in 2024 remained well below pre-COVID levels.<\/p>\n

Would spending more money help to improve education?<\/strong><\/p>\n

No, U.S. taxpayers already spend a trillion dollars a year on education. Instead, we must make pedagogical changes. Mississippi, for example, spends just $12,300 per pupil, one of the lowest figures in the U.S. New York spends $31,918\u2014more than two and a half times as much\u2014and its children don\u2019t read as well.<\/p>\n

Over the past decade, Mississippi has made such extraordinary progress in 4th-grade reading that it is often referred to as the \u201cMississippi Miracle.\u201d<\/p>\n

In reality, there is nothing miraculous about it. All the state did was return to phonics, the traditional method for teaching reading.<\/p>\n

In 2024, the state ranked 9th in the country in 4th-grade reading, up from 49th in 2013, a 40-place climb over a decade, moving from near the bottom of the nation to the top 10.<\/p>\n

Read more Is \u2018Communist\u2019 No Longer a Slur?<\/a><\/p>\n

School choice and homeschooling are paramount.<\/strong><\/p>\n

If a state has a private choice program, parents need to determine whether there is a school that is a better fit for their child than their local public school. Or maybe there is a high-performing charter school they could take advantage of.<\/p>\n

Also, if a family lives in one of the 31 states that have signed onto the Educational Choice for Children Act, the national tax-credit scholarship plan, parents should consider taking advantage of it. Starting next year, taxpayers nationwide can donate up to $1,700 to a scholarship-granting organization (SGO) and apply that donation to reduce their federal tax bill. The SGO then allocates funds to provide scholarships that cover expenses such as tuition at private and religious schools, textbooks, tutoring, educational therapies, transportation, technology, and other education-related costs. Students in households earning up to three times the local median income will be eligible for these scholarships. Thus far, students in 31 states are eligible for the program.<\/p>\n

Another option for parents is to homeschool. The National Home Education Research Institute reports that there were about\u00a03.41 million<\/em> homeschooled students in grades K-12 in the U.S. in 2024-2025. This is up from 2.5 million in spring 2019. It is now estimated that 6.3% of the school-age population is educated at home. The homeschool population has been growing by an estimated 2% to 8% annually.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s important to note that children need to live in a two-parent household for homeschooling to be feasible.<\/p>\n

Marriage is a vital factor in children\u2019s success.<\/strong><\/p>\n

A recently released American Enterprise Institute report asserts that children raised in families where the biological or adoptive parents are \u201ctogether and married\u201d are far more likely to thrive in school and in life than their peers in other households.<\/p>\n

The report\u2019s executive summary states, \u201cWe find that children in non-intact households\u2014where children are living with stepfamilies, cohabitating parents, single parents, or foster or kin-based families such as in grandparent-led homes\u2014are 13% less likely to receive A\u2019s and B\u2019s than those raised in an intact, married-parent home, 47% more likely to have their parents contacted for problems at school, and more than twice as likely to be depressed. We also find that, in this instance, family structure is a more powerful predictor of school problems, academic performance, and depression than are race and poverty.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, 15 million American children currently live without a father at home. That figure, slightly more than 20% of all children under 18, is the highest rate worldwide.<\/p>\n

The statistics for black children are even more distressing. Nearly 70% of black children are born to unmarried parents, and 44% grow up in a single-mother household. Despite the attention progressives typically give to racial disparities in social outcomes, they remain conspicuously silent about the vast differences in family structure and their implications.<\/p>\n

Final words.<\/strong><\/p>\n

There is much that can be done to improve children\u2019s education in the U.S., beyond curbing the malign influence of teachers\u2019 unions and quashing destructive fads such as \u201crestorative justice.\u201d Most importantly, people with children need to be married, take advantage of school choice programs, or, if possible, homeschool their children. Their children\u2019s future\u2014and ultimately the country\u2019s\u2014depends on it.<\/p>\n

Read more Capital One Says It Closed Trump Accounts Over Money Laundering Review, Not Politics<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Student skills are diminishing. Recently, more than 1,800 math and science lecturers at the University of California signed an open letter outlining a\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1321,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1322","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Current Status of American Schools - Urban Economy news<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?p=1322\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Current Status of American Schools - Urban Economy news\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Student skills are diminishing. Recently, more than 1,800 math and science lecturers at the University of California signed an open letter outlining a\u2026\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?p=1322\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Urban Economy news\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-04T08:08:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/urbaneconomynews.com\\\/?p=1322#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/urbaneconomynews.com\\\/?p=1322\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/urbaneconomynews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/be7753cb687f443815cc81e8407f68ad\"},\"headline\":\"The Current Status of American Schools\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-04T08:08:11+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/urbaneconomynews.com\\\/?p=1322\"},\"wordCount\":986,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/urbaneconomynews.com\\\/?p=1322#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/urbaneconomynews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/dfc200d1aac8753299fa9f2039588752.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Education\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/urbaneconomynews.com\\\/?p=1322#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/urbaneconomynews.com\\\/?p=1322\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/urbaneconomynews.com\\\/?p=1322\",\"name\":\"The Current Status of American Schools - Urban Economy news\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/urbaneconomynews.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/urbaneconomynews.com\\\/?p=1322#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/urbaneconomynews.com\\\/?p=1322#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/urbaneconomynews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/dfc200d1aac8753299fa9f2039588752.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-04T08:08:11+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/urbaneconomynews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/be7753cb687f443815cc81e8407f68ad\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/urbaneconomynews.com\\\/?p=1322#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/urbaneconomynews.com\\\/?p=1322\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/urbaneconomynews.com\\\/?p=1322#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/urbaneconomynews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/dfc200d1aac8753299fa9f2039588752.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/urbaneconomynews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/dfc200d1aac8753299fa9f2039588752.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1920},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/urbaneconomynews.com\\\/?p=1322#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/urbaneconomynews.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Current Status of American Schools\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/urbaneconomynews.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/urbaneconomynews.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Urban Economy news\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/urbaneconomynews.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/urbaneconomynews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/be7753cb687f443815cc81e8407f68ad\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/urbaneconomynews.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/urbaneconomynews.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Current Status of American Schools - Urban Economy news","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?p=1322","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Current Status of American Schools - Urban Economy news","og_description":"Student skills are diminishing. Recently, more than 1,800 math and science lecturers at the University of California signed an open letter outlining a\u2026","og_url":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?p=1322","og_site_name":"Urban Economy news","article_published_time":"2026-08-04T08:08:11+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?p=1322#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?p=1322"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/be7753cb687f443815cc81e8407f68ad"},"headline":"The Current Status of American Schools","datePublished":"2026-08-04T08:08:11+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?p=1322"},"wordCount":986,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?p=1322#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/dfc200d1aac8753299fa9f2039588752.jpg","articleSection":["Education"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?p=1322#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?p=1322","url":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?p=1322","name":"The Current Status of American Schools - Urban Economy news","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?p=1322#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?p=1322#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/dfc200d1aac8753299fa9f2039588752.jpg","datePublished":"2026-08-04T08:08:11+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/be7753cb687f443815cc81e8407f68ad"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?p=1322#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?p=1322"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?p=1322#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/dfc200d1aac8753299fa9f2039588752.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/dfc200d1aac8753299fa9f2039588752.jpg","width":2560,"height":1920},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?p=1322#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Current Status of American Schools"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/","name":"Urban Economy news","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/be7753cb687f443815cc81e8407f68ad","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com"],"url":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1322","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1322"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1322\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1321"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1322"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1322"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1322"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}