Today, Education and Labor Committee Republican Leader Virginia Foxx (R-NC) issued the following statement in response to declines in the reading and math scores of fourth and eighth grade students:
“When I saw that fourth-grade math scores dropped five points since 2019 and the eighth-grade math scores fell 8 points, my heart dropped, too. These students have fallen behind due to no fault of their own. This unprecedented learning loss is causing enormous damage to the academic progress and emotional wellbeing of students and will continue to do so unless we take bold action to reform our education system.
“Our students were failed by an education bureaucracy that insisted on shutting them out of the classroom, even after the evidence proved it was safe for them to return. To make matters worse, many school districts are using billions in COVID relief funds for unrelated projects instead of trying to recover lost learning. Part of Republicans’ Commitment to America is ensuring schools focus on academic recovery efforts. Students are behind because immoral pandemic policies placed hurdles in their way-it is our job to help them catch up.
“We cannot let the nation forget how teachers unions tried to hold our children’s futures for ransom. These union bosses, and the politicians who enabled them, must be held accountable."
