Michael HornCo-founder and Chairman, Christensen Institute

Reading scores DROP at US schools: Despite a boost in funding

9 Sept 2026 · 2 min

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In a televised news segment, anchor Christine Frazao reports a series of troubling trends in U.S. K‑12 education. National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) data show that 4th‑ and 8th‑grade reading scores have fallen, while the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) indicates a 14‑point drop for 15‑year‑old readers—the lowest performance in 25 years. Public school enrollment has shrunk by 2.84% (about 1.4 million students) between 2019 and 2024, even as post‑COVID education spending rose roughly 34%, a surge many experts say has not been strategically targeted. The segment cites Michael Horn on the waning bipartisan consensus over curriculum, notes rising teacher attrition with student behavior and discipline cited as primary reasons, and highlights a Gallup poll showing only 32% public satisfaction with K‑12 education, the lowest ever recorded. Various unnamed speakers echo concerns about discipline, the need to return to basic subjects, and the lack of focus on outcomes over the past decade.

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I'm Christine Frizzell in Washington. Tonight, some alarming new data about the state of education in America. With kids now back in school, some say it is time to get back to basics before it's too late. The buzz in the hallways is back, but the return to the classroom means once again facing a complicated reality about how much and And how well American students are learning.
The latest scores from the National Assessment for Educational Progress, they're really kind of a national embarrassment.
Those scores showing 4th and 8th graders in this country declining in their reading ability, with another report, the Program for International Assessment, or PISA, finding that 15-year-old U.S. students' reading scores fell 14 points from the last time the test was given in 2022. Plummeting to the lowest levels in 25 years.
We basically have taken our eye off the ball for at least a decade now, where we stopped focusing on outcomes and achievement for students.
Public school enrollment from 2019 to 2024 also went down 2.84% or 1.4 million students, though funding went up by about 34% following the COVID-19 pandemic. And while much of it has dried up, experts say those spending it weren't always thinking about getting the best return on investment.
We haven't really thought about how do we want to spend that money to really focus on each child. Do we, instead of having full-time staff, do we want to really focus on tutoring for those who are most at risk?
Michael Horn says bipartisan consensus on educational policy has also dwindled, with the subject of school curriculum often leading to tense debates. Many experienced teachers also choosing to leave the classroom. A top reason, according to the National Education Association, Student behavior.
There's 2 things that come to mind that we hear from parents all the time. The first is discipline. We see schools are really out of control in terms of the chaos and the disruption that students feel in the classrooms. And then secondly, they need to get back to basics— reading, writing, math, history, science.
And one other new low has also just been reached: American satisfaction with the quality of K-12 education. A new Gallup poll has it at just 32%. That's the lowest ever recorded. It's also down 11 percentage points from 2 years ago. I'm Christine Frazao reporting.