The State of America’s Children®

Every child deserves equal access to quality education in a safe, well-funded, and accessible environment as a foundation for lifelong success. Sadly, student learning was negatively impacted during the pandemic, evidenced by a decline in math and reading proficiency, low high-school graduation rates, severely underpaid educators, and low early-learning enrollment numbers. As is too often the case, low-income students and students of color experienced a disproportionate impact.

• Enrollment in state-funded preschool nationwide decreased by 18%.⁵⁶
• Math and reading scores declined in most states during the pandemic. No state saw an improvement in scores between 2019 and 2022.⁵⁷
• During the 2019-2020 school year, 1 in 6 Hispanic, 1 in 5 Black, and 1 in 4 American Indian/Alaskan public-school students did not graduate on time.⁵⁸
• The U.S. spends 2.7 times as much (per person) on incarceration as it does on education.⁵⁹

The pandemic precipitated a massive 18%⁶⁰ decrease in preschool enrollment, wiping out nearly a decade of progress. In 2020-2021, only 5% of 3-year-olds and 29% of 4-year-olds were enrolled in a state-funded preschool program.⁶¹ Their peers in some other states were less fortunate, as Idaho, Indiana, Montana, New Hampshire, South Dakota, and Wyoming provide no funding support for preschool.⁶² The quality of these programs varies significantly from state to state. Very few states have state-funded preschool programs with both high enrollment numbers and meet the measurement metrics as a high-quality program.⁶³

• In 2022 we saw the most severe drop in math scores for 4th and 8th graders since the first National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) was conducted in 1969.
• In 2022, most 4th and 8th graders were not proficient in reading or math.⁶⁴
• At least 80% of Black, Hispanic, American Indian/Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander 4th graders were not proficient in reading or math⁶⁵ and 90% of students of color in the 8th grade were not proficient.⁶⁶
• Low-income students were 1.5 times more likely to perform below proficiency than their higher-income peers.⁶⁷
• At the high school level, during the 2019-2020 school year, 20% or more of all Black students did not graduate on time in 29 states and the District of Columbia.⁶⁸ One in every 7 American high school students did not graduate on time.⁶⁹

Total 2020 per-pupil expenditures (PPE) increased to $13,489 over 2019, a meager 1.6% after adjusting for inflation⁷⁰—a stark contrast to the previous year’s 5% increase. Huge PPE disparities persist between students,⁷¹ even with the additional 126 billion dollars in funding and support provided by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) for K-12 education in 2021.⁷² There is a direct relationship between public investment and student resources to support academic success. Not all students in America are receiving equal access to quality education with the resources and systems of support that they need. ^{73 74}

The data is clear. Due to the low enrollment in early learning programs, the impact of exclusionary discipline policies, the continuous perpetuation of racist and inequitable systems and inadequate public investment, and the educational environments for our children and youth are creating barriers that can potentially keep them from thriving. Education is the foundation for children and youth to build upon to ensure a successful, healthy, engaged, and safe adulthood. We must continue to defend our children’s fundamental rights to education and the constitutional right to equal educational opportunity no matter their race, ethnic background, religion, sex, or whether they are rich or poor, citizen or non-citizen.

[56] Friedman-Krauss, Allison et al. 2022. “The State of Preschool 2021: State Preschool Yearbook,” Tables 1 and 2. National Institute for Early Education Research. https://nieer.org/state-preschool-yearbooks-yearbook2021

[57] U.S. Department of Education and National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). 2022. “2022 Reading Assessment.” Customized tables generated using NAEP Data Explorer https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/ndecore/xplore/NDE; U.S. Department of Education and National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). 2022. “2022 Mathematics Assessment.” Customized tables generated using NAEP Data Explorer https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/ndecore/xplore/NDE

[58] Source: National Center for Education Statistics. 2022. “Table 1. Public high school 4-year adjusted cohort graduation rate (ACGR), by race/ethnicity and selected demographic characteristics for the United States, the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico: School year 2019–20.” https://nces.ed.gov/ccd/tables/ACGR_RE_and_characteristics_2019-20.asp

[59] U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Justice Expenditure and Employment Extracts. 2021 “Table 10. Detail of Direct Expenditure for Correctional Activities of State Governments by Character and Object, Fiscal Year 2017 (Preliminary). https://bjs.ojp.gov/sites/g/files/xyckuh236/files/media/document/jeee17p.zip; Bureau of Justice Statistics. “Inmates in custody of state or federal correctional facilities, including private prison facilities, December 31, 1999-2019/a.” Generated using the Corrections Statistical Analysis Tool at www.bjs.gov.; U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. 2021. “Digest of Education Statistics,” Table 236.65. Current Expenditure per Pupil in Fall Enrollment in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools, by State or Jurisdiction: Selected Years, 1969-70 through 2018-19. https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d21/tables/dt21_236.65.asp

^[60] Friedman-Krauss, Allison et al. 2022. “The State of Preschool 2021: State Preschool Yearbook,” Tables 1 and 2. National Institute for Early Education Research. https://nieer.org/state-preschool-yearbooks-yearbook2021

^[61] Friedman-Krauss, Allison et al. 2022. “The State of Preschool 2021: State Preschool Yearbook,” Tables 1 and 2. National Institute for Early Education Research. https://nieer.org/state-preschool-yearbooks-yearbook2021

^[62] Friedman-Krauss, Allison et al. 2022. “The State of Preschool 2021: State Preschool Yearbook,” Tables 1 and 2. National Institute for Early Education Research. https://nieer.org/state-preschool-yearbooks-yearbook2021

^[63] Friedman-Krauss, Allison et al. 2022. “The State of Preschool 2021: State Preschool Yearbook,” Tables 1 and 2. National Institute for Early Education Research. https://nieer.org/state-preschool-yearbooks-yearbook2021

^[64] U.S. Department of Education and National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). 2022. “2022 Reading Assessment.” Customized tables generated using NAEP Data Explorer, https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/ndecore/xplore/NDE; U.S. Department of Education and National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). 2022. “2022 Mathematics Assessment.” Customized tables generated using NAEP Data Explorer, https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/ndecore/xplore/NDE

^[65] U.S. Department of Education and National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). 2022. “2022 Reading Assessment.” Customized tables generated using NAEP Data

^[66] U.S. Department of Education and National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). 2022. “2022 Reading Assessment.” Customized tables generated using NAEP Data Explorer https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/ndecore/xplore/NDE; U.S. Department of Education and National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). 2022. “2022 Mathematics Assessment.” Customized tables generated using NAEP Data Explorer https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/ndecore/xplore/NDE

^[67] Ibid.

^[68] National Center for Education Statistics. 2022. “Table 1. Public high school 4-year adjusted cohort graduation rate (ACGR), by race/ethnicity and selected demographic characteristics for the United States, the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico: School year 2019–20.” https://nces.ed.gov/ccd/tables/ACGR_RE_and_characteristics_2019-20.asp

^[69] Ibid.

[70] Institute of Education Sciences. 2020. ”Revenues and Expenditures for Public Elementary and Secondary Education: FY 20.” Revenues and Expenditures for Public Elementary and Secondary Education: FY 20

^[71]Ibid.

[72] H.R. 1319 — 117th Congress: American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. Sec. 2001. https://www.congress.gov/117/plaws/publ2/PLAW-117publ2.pdf

^[73] U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, Civil Rights Data Collection. 2021. “2017-18 State and National Estimations.” One or More Out-of-School Suspensions and Enrollment. https://ocrdata.ed.gov/estimations/2017-2018. Calculations made by the Children’s Defense Fund.

^[74] Ibid.