Federal lawmakers are grappling with how to address a crisis in K-12 education, following the release of test scores that revealed alarming numbers of graduating students unable to read and unprepared to find a job.
A congressional hearing Thursday aimed to address the “troubling state of K-12 education.” Citing the most recent National Assessment of Educational Progress scores – known as the Nation’s Report Card – the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee noted that American high school seniors are “leaving high school with the lowest levels of math and reading scores ever recorded.”
“Through education, a child can achieve the American dream. Without access to quality education, that dream is dead,” Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Louisiana, said in his opening remarks, noting that children who can’t read well are more likely to commit crimes, less likely to graduate high school, and are less likely to join the workforce. “If we want the United States to succeed, we need children to succeed. And for children to succeed, they need to know how to read.”
