Hearings to examine the state of K-12 education.

Committee on Education

2025-09-18

Source: Congress.gov

Summary

The meeting focused on the critical state of K-12 education in the United States, highlighting widespread concerns about declining student performance and widening achievement gaps. Speakers emphasized the urgent need for comprehensive reforms to ensure students are prepared for future success and to address the foundational issues impacting learning outcomes nationwide [ 00:22:10 ]

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Themes

State of K-12 Education & Declining Scores

National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) scores have fallen to their lowest levels in 30 years, with only one-third of high school seniors proficient in reading [ 00:21:30 ]

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. This decline began even before the COVID-19 pandemic, with achievement scores falling consistently since 2013 across both math and reading . The drops have been most severe for the lowest-performing students, leading to a significant widening of achievement gaps . The United States ranks 34th in the world for 15-year-olds in mathematics, falling below the OECD average . This educational decline poses a substantial economic crisis, potentially leading to an 8% loss in lifetime earnings for students and a three-fold loss of current GDP for the nation [ 00:31:28 ]

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Addressing Learning Loss & Improving Outcomes

Several strategies were proposed to address learning deficiencies. These include implementing evidence-based approaches like the "science of reading," which has shown success in states like Indiana and Mississippi [ 00:22:21 ]

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. Empowering states and local communities to tailor solutions to students' unique needs and ensuring federal resources support early detection screenings for learning challenges like dyslexia were also highlighted [ 00:22:36 ]

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. School choice programs were presented as a way to empower parents to find the best educational environment for their children [ 00:23:33 ]

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. Beyond in-school factors, attention was drawn to broader societal conditions such as childhood poverty, access to quality childcare, and the importance of a child's first four years for intellectual and emotional development [ 00:25:19 ]

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Teacher Recruitment, Retention, and Compensation

A significant barrier to educational improvement is the challenge of recruiting and retaining high-quality teachers . Low teacher salaries deter talented individuals from entering the profession, with some college graduates choosing other work due to student loan burdens . There was a strong consensus on the need to substantially raise teacher salaries, but also to reform compensation structures to reward the most effective teachers and those who make significant contributions to student growth . Odessa, Texas, was presented as a successful model, which implemented a stackable compensation strategy, incentive pay, and developed its own teacher pipelines and residency programs to attract and retain educators, leading to improved student outcomes .

Impact of Technology (Smartphones & AI)

The pervasive use of smartphones and social media was identified as a major contributing factor to declining student performance, mental health challenges, and decreased engagement in reading . While artificial intelligence (AI) holds potential as a tool to enhance learning, especially for personalized tutoring and reducing teacher workload, serious concerns were raised about its uncontrolled use . Risks include AI facilitating cheating, exacerbating disengagement, and even promoting self-harm among vulnerable youth . Calls were made for clear guardrails, age verification for social media and AI platforms, and developing comprehensive AI literacy programs for students .

Student Engagement & Broader Factors

Beyond academic scores, the meeting highlighted the problem of student disengagement, which manifests as chronic absenteeism, mental health crises, and a general lack of enthusiasm for learning . Students were categorized into four engagement modes: passenger, achiever, resistor, and explorer, with a goal to move more students into the explorer mode where they are highly motivated and resilient . Place-based initiatives and community schools that integrate local resources and support services have shown promise in boosting engagement and academic outcomes . Rethinking high school curricula to make them more relevant and accessible, including robust career and technical education (CTE) pathways, was suggested as a way to reignite student interest and provide tangible skills for the workforce . Concerns were also raised about the impact of unpredictable federal funding changes and policy instability on local school districts .

Tone of the Meeting

The overall tone of the meeting was one of serious concern regarding the current state of K-12 education in the US, coupled with an urgent call for action and systemic reform [ 00:21:17 ]

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. While speakers highlighted the gravity of declining academic outcomes, there was also a hopeful and collaborative spirit, with various panelists offering innovative solutions and examples of success from their respective states and districts . Discussions often transcended partisan lines, focusing on common goals like student success and teacher empowerment . However, there was a cautious undertone, especially concerning the unchecked influence of technology like social media and AI on student well-being and academic integrity .

Participants

Transcript

R
Rebecca Winthrop
you
Please come to order, and I apologize for being a few minutes late.  The K-12 system is potentially one of the most powerful tools we have to lift children out of poverty, giving them a chance at success.  Education transforms, and it can transform a child, a family, and a country's history.  Through education, a child can achieve the American dream.  Without access to quality education, that dream's dead.   that child has a much worse life.  A child who doesn't learn how to read well, more likely to turn to crime, less likely to graduate from high school, less likely to find a meaningful job.  If we want the United States to succeed, we need children to succeed.  And for children to succeed, they need to know how to read.  I feel a little bit like Jesse Jackson with my rhyming and my alliterations.  So it should concern us   that children's reading, math, and science scores have yet to recover to pre-pandemic levels.  The scores from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, the NAEP scores released last week, were the lowest in 30 years.  Only one third of high school seniors are proficient at reading levels.  Nearly 60% of employers say high school graduates are not job ready.  And students are leaving high school unable to read.   unprepared for the workforce.  Now, we need to act for their sake, and we need to act for our country's sake.  In August, I joined Secretary McMahon and other educational leaders in Louisiana for a roundtable discussion on how to strengthen literacy.  One thing we discussed was Louisiana's successful implementation   of evidence-based strategies in the classroom, like the science of reading and how these efforts can be replicated nationwide.  The lesson is clear.  Success in education is not determined by how much we spend, but by who makes the decision and how wisely resources are directed.  When states and local communities are empowered to tailor solutions to meet the unique needs of students, innovation follows.
It's important to recognize that not all children learn the same way.  In medicine,   We used to treat all people with cancer, like with the same two drugs.  And of course we got the kind of results you'd expect from that lack of specialized diagnosis and treatment.   Now we have specialized care for each type, and we've dramatically improved patient outcomes.  We need the same approach for literacy.  This includes ensuring federal resources can be used towards early detection screening for learning needs, like dyslexia, that causes students to struggle reading.  I'm grateful that President Trump and Secretary McMahon are committed to reforming our broken education system so that it works better for American students and their families.   They understand the simple truth that parents, not Washington bureaucrats, know their child best.  So it should be parents making the decision regarding their child's education.   I favor school choice because that empowers a parent to free a child from a failing school and to allow that child to go to the best school that's available for the best education for that child.  And by the way, for parents, that is what you want more than anything, that your child have a better education, have a better life than you yourself had.   I thank President Trump and Senator Tim Scott for working with me to pass the first federal choice legislation in history.  I should also give credit to Ted Cruz, our Educational Choice for Children's Act.  I look forward to hearing our witnesses' ideas on how we can improve K-12 education so that our children and our country can have a brighter future.  With that, Senator Sanders.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for holding this hearing on...   what is obviously a very, very important subject.  And I want to thank our witnesses for being here as well.  I want to broaden the discussion because you're absolutely right.  There should be enormous concern about how our kids are failing educationally, how we are falling behind many, many other countries around the world.  As I think many of us will remember,   Several decades ago, Mr. Chairman, we were the best educated country on earth.  You know that?  We had more people getting a higher education, now public schools were the strongest probably in the world.

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