Articles

# New Report Card Data Confirms We Can, And Must, Do Better on Education

The White House
September 9, 2025

The latest National Assessment of Educational Progress — a nationwide test administered in 2024 — underscores what President Donald J. Trump has been saying all along: on education, we can, and must, be better.

These results released today from the 2024 assessments were devastating:

- Just 31% of eighth grade students are proficient in science.
- Just 22% of high school seniors are proficient in math — the lowest score since the current assessment began.
- Just 35% of high school seniors are proficient in reading — the lowest score on record.

Since 1979, the U.S. Department of Education has spent over $3 trillion and per-pupil spending has increased by more than 245% — with nothing to show for it. Standardized test scores have remained flat for decades and U.S. students rank near the bottom compared to other developed nations in critical subjects like math.

Why would we keep doing the same thing over and over again and expect a different result?

That’s why the Trump Administration is challenging the status quo that has failed our students for decades. Instead of a bloated federal system, the Trump Administration is moving forward with a bold plan to return education back to the individual states — which are best equipped to meet the needs of their students — and providing every available opportunity for parents to enrich the education of their children through individual choice.

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