In January of this year, the National Center for Education Statistics reported that educational test scores in reading dropped to a thirty-year low. Instead of addressing these deficiencies by raising standards, states and cities are doing the opposite—lowering standards to meet renewed educational achievement goals.

Just examine the past few years regarding America’s educational standards for K-12. In New York, the state will no longer require students to pass Regents exams in English, math, science, and social studies to graduate, beginning in the 2027–28 academic year.

In 2023, The Times Union reported an abysmal result in Schenectady, New York, where not one eighth grader who took the math test scored as proficient. Across the state, third through eighth grade test scores in 2022 were much lower than in 2019—a result, no doubt, of the absence of in-person learning during the first year and beyond of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Recent reports also show that the city of Baltimore had 23 schools where not one student was proficient in math, despite spending close to $22,000 per student. Additionally, 20 other schools found only one child proficient in core subjects.

This dismal trend is replicated across the country. A 2023 report by Wirepoints found that Illinois has 60 public schools in which not a single student was proficient at grade level in reading or math.

The report also highlighted 23 schools, including 18 in Chicago, where no student demonstrated proficiency in either subject in 2022. Another seven Illinois schools had zero proficiency in reading alone, and 30 had no students proficient in math alone.

These statistics fall primarily on Black and Hispanic students, over 70% of whom are deficient at grade level in math and reading. Why is there no public outcry, considering leaders in these states and cities continually claim that Black lives matter?

Where is the outrage from Black Lives Matter, Reverend Al Sharpton, former President Barack Obama, and the entire Democratic Party? This problem exists not just in certain states and cities, but across the U.S.

Much of this data has been compiled over the past few years, but the National Center for Education Statistics will issue an updated report on September 9, 2025. If the trend continues from previous reports, the results will be downright ugly.

As much as current Illinois Governor JB Pritzker has been in the news lately over Texas redistricting, his state is an educational disaster, with over 70% of Black and Hispanic children deficient at grade level in math and reading—yet silence from those who claim Black lives matter.

Current Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson decries racism at every turn, but he has direct oversight of the entire Chicago Public School system. Black children make up 75% of the student body, yet over 70% cannot read or do math at grade level.

Despite spending $29,000 per student, 70% of Black and Hispanic students in Chicago are deficient in math and English. Where is Illinois’ favorite son, former President Barack Obama? Chicago Public Schools is also facing a staggering $734 million budget deficit—yet still no outrage.

Incidentally, Obama’s children attended private school their entire lives, even while he championed public school for everyone else’s children. Why?

Instead of doing whatever is necessary to raise academic achievement, states and cities are lowering standards. Former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio pushed to end the city’s gifted and talented programs, claiming it was in the interest of equity because not enough Black and Hispanic students qualified. Rather than addressing the root problem, his solution was to lower everyone to the same educational level.

Other states, such as Oregon, are suspending or removing educational proficiency standards in writing, math, and English to graduate high school—all in the name of equity in outcomes.

With all its talk of equity, Oregon still has dismal achievement levels for Black and Hispanic students. Instead of raising standards, the state is going in the opposite direction.

Just last year, the California State University (CSU) Board of Trustees unanimously voted to end the use of standardized tests in undergraduate admissions. This change removed SAT and ACT requirements from the California Code of Regulations.

The stated goal was to address equity in admissions, but instead of examining why Black and Hispanic students disproportionately fail to gain entrance, perhaps the state should address its failing K-12 system. Before the pandemic, per the California Department of Education, 70% of Black and Hispanic students were not proficient in math or English—and the situation has only worsened.

Columnist Dan Walters of CalMatters wrote that the pandemic underscored the fact that too many of California’s elementary students lack effective reading ability. EdSource reported that, prior to the pandemic, fewer than 50% of third graders were reading at grade level. Three years later—after school closures and inconsistent remote learning—that figure dropped to 42%.

The question that has never been asked of California Governor Gavin Newsom: why do you champion public education yet send your own children to private school?

The debate has focused almost entirely on funding, yet the U.S. spends roughly $800 billion annually on education at the federal, state, and local levels—far more than any other industrialized country—yet gets some of the worst results. Why?

This is only a small sampling of why the key civil rights issue of our time is America’s failing schools. If left unaddressed, this crisis will severely impact the national security of the United States.