Families know the education system is failing them

A recent Gallup survey found that satisfaction with the U.S. education system is the lowest it has been since the turn of the century. More than 55% of the public said the education system isn’t working as it should, with 1 in 4 people indicating that they are “completely dissatisfied” with it.

The respondents’ main concern is the lack of academic rigor in schools. They’re right to be alarmed. The average eighth grader in California has the mathematical proficiency of a fifth grader, according to an evaluation of recent test scores. Young children, especially, are well behind where they should be, with the average 9-year-old testing lower in reading and mathematics than students their age did 30 years ago.

But the public is also concerned about the political agenda that has hijacked the education system. Woke subjects such as critical race theory and gender ideology are now commonplace in the classroom, and families are starting to experience the effects of these ideologies at home. Indeed, an alarming number of young girls have identified themselves as “transgender” in recent years, and the coinciding spike in anxiety and depression among that population is no coincidence.

Education reform is desperately needed, and no one knows that better than families who are stuck in schools with which they’re becoming increasingly dissatisfied. The best solution is to give these families options and the financial freedom to place their children in a better school that suits their needs. Perhaps, then, we’ll start to see changes within the system.