After nearly two years of school closures and other COVID-19 restrictions that targeted children, one thing has been made entirely clear: The people who did everything they could to disrupt schooling in the name of “safety” should be ashamed of themselves.
Washington state had one of the highest testing participation rates in the country in 2021. When comparing the 2021 results to 2019, scores were down across the board in English and math among every racial demographic group, as well as among low-income students, students with disabilities, and English learners.
Washington state test scores 2019 to 2021. Absolutely devastating. We need accountability for this neglect of millions of children in blue states. pic.twitter.com/egOHGOaKm7
— Kim McGair (@kmcgair) March 19, 2022
This fact becomes bleaker when you consider what tests students were given. According to the Seattle Times, students were “tested on the material they learned last year, meaning fourth graders took the test they normally would have taken as third graders.” So, 2019 students outperformed their 2021 counterparts who were one grade level ahead of them.
Students in Maryland public schools also came in well below the (already poor) results of their 2019 counterparts. Arizona teachers are already warning their students will underperform the state’s 2019 results. Although a new study shows test scores are rising once again now that schools across the country are back in person, 2021 results nationwide still trail pre-pandemic levels.
The mental health effects of school closures were already clear. The fact children were never at serious risk from COVID-19 (and were, in fact, at more risk from the flu) made it clear school closures never should have been on the table when schools started back in the fall of 2020. Mentally, emotionally, and scientifically, school closures were a disaster. We all knew they would be an academic disaster as well. As more standardized testing results roll in, we will continue to see just how far back those closures set our children.
Teachers unions, politicians, bureaucrats, and public health officials who pushed school closures own this. Nearly two years of panicked public health measures that ignored the data we had about COVID-19 has set back the emotional and academic development of children for who knows how long. The people responsible for this should never be allowed near the power they wielded again.
