In yet the latest evidence that American students are continuing to fall behind academically, newly released international student assessment data showed that 15-year-olds achieved the lowest scores in math and reading in over two decades. Experts say that entrenched institutional dysfunction in public schools must be uprooted and that parents should take advantage of an increasing array of school choice options that often provide better educational outcomes.

On Tuesday, the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) results were released, showing that reading scores had plunged by 14 points and math scores ticked down by two points since the last assessment in 2022. The results came on the heels of a new Gallup poll earlier this month showing that Americans are dissatisfied with the quality of K-12 education at record levels, jumping 12 points over the last two years to 67%, while those expressing satisfaction with education has plunged 11 points over the same time span to 32%.

The sour outlook has come during an era of record underachievement for American students. Data shows that student test scores have been steadily dropping every year for the past decade across all income, geographic, and racial divides. Observers note that the beginning of the steady decline around 2015 coincides with the widespread rise of smartphones, social media, and in-school use of laptops and tablets.

Experts like Aaron Withe, CEO of the Freedom Foundation and founder and president of the Teacher Freedom Alliance, believe that another huge factor in sinking test scores is a myopic focus on ideology and unionized labor within the public education system, which has made student achievement a low priority.

“This is the exact reason why we’re fighting the teacher unions,” he told The Washington Stand. “Union bosses have spent decades focused on contracts, dues, and political power while student achievement keeps sliding. When the organizations that dominate education policy are more accountable to their own bargaining priorities than to kids and families, this is unfortunately the outcome.”

Observers like The Wall Street Journal editorial board also point out that the assessment free fall has come even as public spending on education has reached record levels. “Once cumulative spending per student from ages six to 15 exceeds roughly $85,000 per student — all U.S. states spend more than that — the relationship with student scores begins to ‘decouple,’” the board noted.

The WSJ further emphasized that the consequences of American students’ underachievement reach well beyond the personal difficulties that will hamper kids who aren’t receiving a good education — the effects reach into the national security realm as U.S. adversaries like China significantly outperform America academically, with the board arguing that “America’s failing education system is the biggest handicap in the innovation race with China.” The PISA results showed that Chinese students have improved by 21 points in math since 2018, while American students have fallen 15 points. “While 8% of U.S. students rated ‘top performers’ in math, 54% did in mainland China,” the board highlighted. “Wonder why U.S. employers seek to hire high-skilled workers from abroad?”

Lt. Col. (Ret.) Robert Maginnis, who serves as senior fellow for National Security at Family Research Council, concurs — with one qualification. “Education is not America’s only handicap in the innovation race with China, but it may be our most consequential long-term weakness,” he told TWS. “This competition is not simply about chatbots. It encompasses artificial intelligence, semiconductors, energy, data centers, cyber operations, advanced manufacturing, and military power. Every part of that technological ecosystem ultimately depends upon educated and adaptable people.”

Maginnis continued, “When only 8% of American students are top performers in mathematics, compared with 54% in mainland China, we should regard that disparity as a national security warning. A nation cannot indefinitely lead in AI, quantum computing, aerospace, robotics, cyber defense, and advanced weapons if it fails to produce enough mathematicians, scientists, engineers, technicians, and informed citizens. America will continue to welcome talented immigrants, but it is strategically dangerous to depend on other countries to supply the human capital required to sustain our economy and defend the nation.”

“China understands that technological talent is an instrument of national power,” he added. “Unless we rebuild our own educational foundation, Beijing’s advantage will increasingly be measured not merely in test scores but in patents, industrial capacity, intelligence capabilities, military systems, and geopolitical influence.”

As for what the path forward looks like for America to improve student performance, Maginnis was clear: reestablish a clear focus on fundamentals.

“We must restore educational fundamentals: literacy, mathematics, science, history, discipline, and high expectations,” he insisted. “Students should demonstrate mastery before being promoted, struggling children should receive intensive tutoring, and schools should greatly expand serious instruction in mathematics, computer science, engineering, and skilled technical fields. We must also attract teachers who genuinely understand the subjects they teach and hold schools accountable for measurable results rather than increased spending alone.”

Maginnis went on to underscore that parents now have the ability to direct their children’s education through an array of expanding options outside of the public school framework.

“Parents must regain meaningful authority over their children’s education,” he stressed. “School choice, charter schools, homeschooling, and private and Christian schools should be encouraged because they give families alternatives when traditional systems fail. Many of these schools succeed by combining academic rigor with parental involvement, discipline, personal responsibility, and moral formation.”

At the same time, Maginnis maintained that the growing dominance of artificial intelligence cannot be ignored. “We must also teach students how to use AI without becoming dependent upon it. AI can serve as a tutor and research assistant, but it must not replace reading, writing, calculation, creativity, or independent thought. America needs more than technically proficient workers. We need men and women capable of critical thinking, moral discernment, sound judgment, and personal responsibility. In the AI age, those distinctly human qualities will be as important to national security as mathematical and scientific competence.”