When someone says that U.S. public schools are failing, you know they haven’t seen the international testing data.
It’s a testament to the clamor of the anti-public school voices that the myth of U.S. student failure in international comparisons persists. A contributing factor is the current federal administration’s promotion of a national private school voucher program as a so-called remedy for the failures of our public schools.
In fact, U.S. students don’t score anywhere near the bottom on international assessments. In almost every subject and grade/age they are in the top 25% or top 50% when compared to students across the globe.
Two of the most widely reported and respected international assessment programs are The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). Both have been administered to students worldwide for more than two decades and help countries understand how their educational programs and student achievement compare to those of other countries.
PISA assesses math, reading, and science every three years. The most recent results show the U.S. ranking 34th of 81 participating countries in math, 9th in reading, and 16th in science. While there is room for improvement, especially in math, the scores certainly do not suggest that U.S. schools are failing.
The U.S. rankings on the 2023 TIMSS results in grades 4 and 8 math and science are lower, but still in the top half in every subject and as high as #14 (of 58 countries) in grade 4 science. See our fact sheet for more details.
So the next time you hear a lawmaker or pro-privatization advocate say the U.S. public school system is a failing system, call them out for spreading misinformation. Give them the facts. Our public schools are not failing—they’re succeeding (with room for improvement) despite persistent attempts to destroy them. What public schools need is not false reviews but full funding to ensure adequate teacher pay and classroom resources.
There is so much to be proud of in our country’s educational system. Instead of starving our public schools through insufficient funding (or no state budget), we should double-down on what’s working and make them even better.
Call on Governor Stein to resist the latest effort to defund public schools. Urge him to OPT OUT of the federal tax credit voucher program. It is NOT offering free money to states and it will reduce federal funding available for our neediest schools.
Learn more about the federal tax credit vouchers.
