September 1, 2022—Boston, MA— The National Parents Union (NPU) issued a statement following the release of the NAEP score assessments that show the first-ever declines in math and the largest drop in reading achievement for age 9 students since the 1980s. The results underscore the widespread educational disruptions that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic and show students at all levels moving backward in academic achievement since 2020.
Keri Rodrigues, Co-Founder and President of The National Parents Union and Ariel Taylor Smith, Senior Director of the NPU Center for Policy and Action, said the following statement:
We need more than pearl clutching and hand wringing today. We need real leadership and immediate action.
We have been predicting this widening gap in academic achievement since COVID-19 and yet schools continue to keep parents in the dark about how they plan to reverse this trend. Let’s be clear: the lives of our children are at stake and what we currently have is a national emergency without our national leaders fully grasping the gravity of this crisis.
This is absolutely unacceptable.
Parents have lost faith in the public education system and for good reason. There has been no transparency, no accountability, and no urgency to lead us out of a disaster that continues to imperil America’s children. Our latest national parent poll found that only 27% of parents say their children’s schools have asked them to give feedback on how federal funding should be used to address issues like learning loss and still nothing has changed as schools are glued to the status quo.
ABOUT THE NATIONAL PARENTS UNION
The National Parents Union is a network of highly effective parent organizations and grassroots activists across the country that is united behind a set of common goals and principles to channel the power of parents. Our family advocates improve the quality of life for children across the United States and define the education conversation. https://nationalparentsunion.org/