The latest PISA scores reveal American 15-year-olds' reading skills dropped by 14 points and math scores are near historic lows, despite U.S. schools spending over $21,000 per student according to Census Bureau data. Gallup polls show 67% of adults are dissatisfied with K-12 education, correlating with increased school-choice policies in 18 states. The article highlights staffing inefficiencies and political indoctrination as key issues, noting examples like Frederick Douglass Academy High School's empty classrooms and New York City schools' high costs without achieving proficiency.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-17,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
The latest Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) scores confirm what parents have been living for years: the United States is falling even further behind academically.
asserted
States → confirm → years
American 15-year-olds just posted among the lowest reading and math results this country has recorded in a generation.
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country → post → generation
Reading dropped another 14 points and math sits near historic lows.
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math → drop → lows
The teachers union cartel and the one-size-fits-all government school monopoly have produced an international embarrassment.
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size → fit → embarrassment
Worse – and tellingly – that collapse followed a historic spending binge.
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collapse → follow → binge
According to the Census Bureau’s latest data, we now outspend every country on Earth: over $21,000 per student.
uncertain
we → accord → student
Yet new Gallup polling shows satisfaction with K-12 education at an all-time low, with a whopping 67% of adults reporting dissatisfaction with the system.
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% → show → system
School-choice momentum helps explain why so many people are finally willing to call the system a disaster.
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people → help → system
We knew it all along.
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We → know → it
Families have more options than ever, so they no longer have to live with the cognitive dissonance of pretending they were sending their kids to good schools.
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they → have → schools
They are breaking free from their captors, and the Stockholm syndrome is going away.
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syndrome → break → captors
Staffing trends show who the monopoly actually serves.
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monopoly → show → who
Since 2014, government schools have added about 620,000 employees while student enrollment has dropped by about 775,000.
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enrollment → add → 775,000
The government school system has become more of a jobs program for adults than an education initiative for kids.
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system → become → kids
Take Frederick Douglass Academy High School in Chicago, which is about 97% empty.
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which → take → Chicago
, it now enrolls 27 children and employs 28 adults.
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it → enroll → adults
The school spends more than $90,000 per pupil and enjoys a better than one-to-one staff-to-student ratio, yet not a single child was tested as proficient in math or reading.
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child → spend → math
New York City runs the same model at industrial scale.
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City → run → scale
Some 43% of kids in NYC public schools are stuck in failing campuses where more than half the student body is not proficient in math, reading or both.
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body → stick → math
The city is spending north of $40,000 a kid, more than half a million dollars for each child’s 13-year K-12 "education," and still cannot get the basics right.
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basics → spend → education
Parents started waking up to the teachers union insanity during COVID-19, and 18 states have passed universal school choice policies in the past six years as a result.
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states → wake → result
Reopening the buildings did not restore trust.
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Reopening → reopen → trust
The political indoctrination has only worsened, and the unions learned nothing from the backlash.
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unions → worsen → backlash
They doubled down and leaned into ideological warfare, using kids as pawns to advance their socialist agenda.
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They → double → agenda
Families are already voting with their feet.
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Families → vote → feet
New data show homeschooling in New York has exploded by more than 200% over the past 15 years, with 53,905 children now learning at home and a sharp rise inside New York City.
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children → show → City
The Home School Legal Defense Association ranks New York among the most restrictive homeschool regimes in the country.
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Association → rank → country
Government schools there must be a total disaster for parents to flee them even without meaningful school choice options on the books.
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parents → flee → books
Texas proved demand is just as intense where choice finally exists.
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choice → prove → ?
The state notched a major win in 2025, then immediately created a new bottleneck: more than 100,000 kids are stuck on a waitlist because the legislature allocated only $1 billion for the program.
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legislature → notch → program
Comptroller Don Huffines has suggested doubling that funding next year, which is a step in the right direction.
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which → suggest → direction
But Texas should drop the arbitrary cap altogether.
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Texas → drop → cap
Each scholarship is only around $10,000 per student per year, while government schools in the state already spend about twice that amount according to the latest Texas Education Agency data.
uncertain
schools → spend → data
Hardworking families should not be left on a waitlist while the monopoly keeps the larger check.
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monopoly → leave → check
Now is the time to put the pedal to the metal on the school-choice revolution.
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time → put → revolution
No kid should be trapped in failing government schools any longer.
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kid → trap → schools
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