Monday morning’s National Assessment of Educational Progress released its latest findings. It showed that student test scores fell to their lowest level in 20 years due to the mental crippling lockdowns imposed during the COVID-19 epidemic. CBS Mornings and NBC’s Today didn’t see any reason to share this shocking fact about America’s next generation.
Instead, CBS Mornings spent ninety-one seconds obsessing about Bob Woodward’s audiobook of his taped conversations. NBC’s Today also featured a 28-second news report on Scott Kelly joining a NASA team to study possible UFO sightings.
The contrast was ABC’s Good Morning America, which had a mere two minutes and ten seconds of coverage (minus a tease), spread across their two-hour program.
“Falling behind? Students across the country are experiencing one of the most severe setbacks at school. Robin Roberts, co-host of the show, shared the opening tease from the show.
George Stephanopoulos, co-host, opened the first segment by using the same language. He warned that “students are facing setbacks across America” and that “math test scores are dropping dramatically.”
Stephanie Ramos, Correspondent, called it “alarming” news from the “National Assessment of Educational Progress,” which serves as a type of a national reportcard with “declines…seen between high- and lower-performing students in fourth grade in math and eighth grade reading.”
“The scores dropped to levels not seen for two decades.” She said that math scores for eighth grade dropped eight points, from 282 in 2019 and 274 this year. This was the largest decline in testing in over 50 years.”
Ramos explained why this was the case. He said it was a sad story for teachers, not the students, and the parents who had the todeal of dealing with their children attending school via Zoom.
[W]hen students returned last year to in-person classes, educators had to deal with COVID surges and mask mandates. They are also facing increasing mental health issues. Miguel Cardona, Education Secretary, said that the report was an urgent call for action.
Ramos largely repeated the first hour’s content, but lamented that students still suffer despite the $122 billion President Biden’s American Rescue Plan gave to schools. This plan was meant “to help safe reopen and remain open, combat learning loss and address student mental well-being, but clearly the damage had already been done.”
Fox News Digital’s Jessica Chasmar stated that on August 1, 2012, “[t]he Democrats who kept public schools closed during COVID-19 have faced zero repercussions for more than two years following the lockdowns that left millions behind and placed them in crisis.”
Chasmar cited an American Enterprise Institute study that found that “nearly 1.3 Million students left public schools since the pandemic started, and schools that stayed distant longer saw even more students leave.”
She discovered that this was supported by a Brown University working paper from October 2020 that showed that “partisan politics and teachers union strength” had more influence over schools’ reopening than science and local health guidance.
She added (click “expand”)
The main reason for school closings was the teachers unions which almost exclusively donate to Democrats, evidence shows. According to OpenSecrets.org, the American Federation of Teachers donated 100% – a total of 2,674,719 – to Democratic candidates in 2022. The National Education Association (NEA), donated 98.4% — a total of $1941,045 – to Democratic candidates this cycle.
“School closures were always about politics and power rather than safety and the need of children,” Corey A. DeAngelis (a school choice advocate and national director of research for the American Federation for Children) stated in a statement to Fox News Digital. “Meanwhile, private schools, daycares and grocery stores, as well as other businesses, were able to figure this out from the beginning.”
(….)
Critics have criticized teachers unions for their role in keeping schools closed. The AFT and NEA were found to have contacted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last summer to make last-minute changes in school reopening guidelines. This included a phased reopening strategy for K-12 schools based upon coronavirus cases in their area.
The New York Post obtained communications through a Freedom of Information Act request from conservative group Americans for Public Trust. They showed numerous emails between top CDC officials, and the AFT, just days before the Biden administration released school reopening guidelines for February 2021. The Post reported that lobbying efforts were a success. It found at least two instances where “suggestions” were almost word-for-word in the CDC guidelines.
The CDC had been prepared to allow in-school instruction regardless of transmission rates, but at the suggestion of the union, the guidelines were adjusted to include a provision that said, “In the event of high community-transmission results from a new variant of SARS-CoV-2, a new update of these guidelines may be necessary.”
Click “expand” to see the relevant ABC transcripts from October 24.
ABC’s Good Morning America
October 24, 2022
7:01 a.m. Eastern
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE] Falling Behind ; New Student Setback
ROBIN ROBERTS: Are you falling behind? Students across the country are experiencing one of the worst setbacks in school. This is what the nation’s report card shows this morning.
(….)
7:35 a.m. Eastern
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE] New This Morning; Are You Falling Behind? “Nation’s report card” shows dramatic drop in test scores
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS : Now we’ll turn to a report that shows how students across the country are experiencing setbacks. The pandemic has caused dramatic drops in math test scores. Stephanie Ramos has all the details. Good morning, Stephanie.
STEPHANIE RAMOS – George, good morning. Alarming news this morning about test scores falling across the country. The National Assessment of Educational Progress (which serves as a sort of national report card) shows that there were declines in math and reading scores for high- and low-performing students in fourth through eighth grade. These scores dropped to levels not seen for two decades. Eighth grade math scores fell eight points from 282 in 2019, to 274 this school year. This is the largest drop in testing in over 50 years. As we reported, students returned to in-person classes last school year. Teachers had to deal with COVID surges and mask mandates. They are also facing increasing mental health issues. Miguel Cardona, Education Secretary, said that the report was an urgent call for action. Guys
ROBERTS Thank you, Stephanie.
(….)
Eastern, 8:04 a.m.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE] New This Morning; Are You Falling Behind? “Nation’s report card” shows dramatic drop in test scores
STEPHANOPOULOS – Now, the new report that shows how students across the country are experiencing setbacks. Math test scores have dropped dramatically since the pandemic. Stephanie Ramos is back with more details. Good morning, Stephanie.
RAMOS: Hello George. Good morning. It is very unfortunate to see test scores falling across the country. The National Assessment of Educational Progress is a national report card that shows declines in test scores for high- and low-performing students in fourth grade and eighth grade reading and math. Eighth grade math scores fell eight points from 282 in 2019, to 274 this school year. This is the largest decline in math scores in over 50 years of testing. As we reported, students returned to in-person classes last school year. We know that educators had to manage COVID surges and mask mandates. These results are due to the fact that Biden’s American Rescue Plan provided $122 billion in funding for schools to reopen safely and remain open. addressing student mental health and combat learning loss. But the damage was already done. T.J.
T.J. HOLMES : Okay, Stephanie, I’m all right.
