Johnny can't read and Susie can't spell. Willie can't write and Alice can't add. Teacher competency is down. Administrative effectiveness is down. Student advancement is down.
Test scores are down.
As many as 90 million adults in this country are functionally illiterate. SAT score comparisons reveal an unbroken decline from 1963 to the present. Average verbal scores have fallen over fifty points and mathematics scores have dropped nearly forty points. Among the 158 member nations of the United Nations, the United States now ranks 49th in its literacy levels. Nearly half of all Americans are so poorly educated that they can't perform such relatively simple tasks as calculating the price difference between two items at the grocery store or filling out a job application at a fast food restaurant.