School Board is Responsible for Historic Academic Decline

American 13-year-olds remain far behind in key math and reading skills, according to the latest data from a long-running national test.

WCASD is no exception. Test scores were in decline even BEFORE Covid, and have been in steep decline since.

National scores were substantially lower in the fall of 2022 compared to the last time the test was administered three years earlier. Making matters worse, even before the pandemic hit, 13-year-olds had lost ground on the National Assessment of Educational Progress or NAEP.

The data is just the latest evidence that the pandemic and school closures exacted a steep toll on student learning. The new data suggest that most students remain far back from where they would normally be if not for the pandemic.

The WCASD board voted repeatedly to keep schools closed for ONE YEAR*, despite parental concerns. The current school board members who are responsible for this academic loss (Tiernan, Bevilacqua, Chester, Durnell, and Herrmann) should NOT be reelected. It is imperative that we get new faces elected to the board in 2023.

*Schools closed across the state in March 2020. The WCADS board voted to keep middle and high schools remote/hybrid until March 2021.