Virginia’s public schools are struggling. The schools have yet to make up the significant learning losses suffered during the pandemic. In some areas they are falling further behind. The state’s scores on national assessments, as compared to those before the pandemic and those of students in other states, are worrisome.
Even more worrisome than the scores, though, is a truth we all need to keep firmly in mind: These scores represent real students, children whose educational experiences now and in the years ahead will affect their lives as adults.
Scores give us some insight into what’s happening, and they don’t look good. The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is the only comparable measure of student achievement regularly reported for every state and the District of Columbia. Fourth and eighth graders are tested for achievement in reading and math every four years. Students in grade 12 are assessed less frequently.
Fourth and eighth graders in Virginia took the most recent NAEP early in 2024, and the results were published early this year. The news was not encouraging.
Fourth graders improved a little in math but not in reading. Eighth graders’ scores in both areas were lower than in 2022.
Virginia students were already behind, because they were hard hit by the disruptions of the COVID pandemic that started in 2020. The commonwealth’s schools had some of the biggest drops in scores in the nation in both reading and math in 2022 as compared to 2019.
That means Virginia needs to make more progress in academics than other states just to get back to where students were before the pandemic. Thus far, that isn’t happening.
In 2019, Virginia students ranked No. 2 in the nation in fourth grade math. Last year, they ranked No. 20. Virginia eighth graders ranked No. 5 in math in 2019; in last year’s assessment, they were No. 22.
The recent assessment found that Virginia came in last — 51st — in the nation in math recovery from 2019 to 2024. Average achievement for Virginia students in math is almost a full grade level behind what it was in 2019.
This lack of recovery and improvement continues even though Virginia has invested millions of dollars in public education in recent years. Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced his “ALL in VA” plan in 2023, directing school divisions to use available money for more tutoring, improving literacy and combating chronic absenteeism. The legislature also has pumped millions into public education.
There’s nothing to be gained by pointing fingers and arguing about who is at fault in Richmond, no point in second-guessing decisions that were made about managing the schools during and after the pandemic. It’s far more productive to focus on what will make things better.
Republicans and Democrats agree that these recent declines must be reversed and that it’s vitally important to improve our public schools, even if they disagree about who’s to blame, priorities and strategies. They must find ways to work together to improve education throughout the commonwealth.
There are obvious places to start. Even though Virginia is one of the wealthier states in the nation, its teacher salaries and its funding per student lag the national average. Virginia’s overall spending on public schools trails other states despite the millions invested in schools over the last few years.
It doesn’t help that some classrooms lack qualified teachers. Low pay, difficult working conditions and the political climate all have contributed to a chronic teacher shortage in Virginia since the pandemic, especially in schools with large numbers of minority students.
In addition to increasing pay and benefits, more needs to be done to recruit and train teachers. Changes should be made to smooth the way for temporary teachers and people from other professions to become fully qualified teachers.
It is essential that we build on the existing bipartisan commitment to reverse the declines and make schools stronger. Giving our children the best education possible, getting them ready to help build the Virginia of the future, should be a goal of every politician and citizen.