As the debate rages across the country over Common Core , the question of how much involvement the federal government should have – if any – in determining what America’s public school students are taught and how they are taught it is once again front and center. This picture sums up the government’s growing involvement in public education over the last 50 years. The fundamental question is this: Has public education improved after nearly 50 years of federal intervention and billions of taxpayer dollars spent? In a word, no : According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress long-term-trend assessment, 17-year-old students today perform no better in reading and math than did 17-year-olds in the 1970s. According to the main NAEP assessment, often referred to as the nation’s “report card,” only 26 percent of 12th graders are proficient in math; just 38 percent of high school seniors are proficient in reading. Clearly, massive intrusion by the federal government into America’s […]
