On October 30, the results from the 2019 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) were released. Average reading scores dropped since 2017 for both fourth and eighth graders. Eighth grade math scores were also lower than 2017, by one point. However, fourth grade math scores have increased by a point.

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos offered a grim assessment of the results, saying: "E very American family needs to open The Nation’s Report Card this year and think about what it means for their child and for our country’s future. The results are, frankly, devastating. This country is in a student achievement crisis, and over the past decade it has continued to worsen, especially for our most vulnerable students."

She continued, "Two out of three of our nation’s children aren’t proficient readers. In fact, fourth grade reading declined in 17 states and eighth grade reading declined in 31. The gap between the highest and lowest performing students is widening, despite $1 trillion in Federal spending over 40 years designated specifically to help close it."

To view all of the data, which is sortable in a host of ways, including by student groups, states, and districts, visit: https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/.

The 2019 NAEP scores show Catholic Schools outperforming their public school counterparts (note: scores for grade 12 are from 2015). Results for all private schools are only reported when at least 70% of the schools in the sample participate. The following graphs are from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES).

NAEP Reading Scores

On October 23, Secretary DeVos announced that Shane Staszcuk, principal of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Academy in Chicago, IL, is one of ten recipients of the 2019 Terrel H. Bell Award for Outstanding School Leadership. Bell awards are presented to principals of National Blue Ribbon Schools for the vital role they play in guiding their students and schools to excellence, frequently under challenging circumstances.

“Bell awardees are truly extraordinary principals,” Secretary DeVos said. “These principals are models of transformative leadership, capable of articulating—and realizing—a vision of school as a community where every student and every adult thrives through learning. They are also skilled communicators who convey faith in the ability of students and staff to rise to high expectations.”

Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway sat down with Secretary DeVos and the American Enterprise Institute's Rick Hess this past October for a conversation about DeVos' proposed Education Freedom Scholarships . The proposal would establish a $5 billion federal tax credit for voluntary donations to scholarship programs in the states. House and Senate versions of the program have been introduced but have yet to make headway.

The US Department of Education has released updated non-regulatory guidance for Title I of ESEA, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (now known as the Every Student Succeeds Act - ESSA). Of interest are at least two items.

First, the guidance reaffirms the policy announced by Secretary DeVos to a group of State CAPE leaders in March that religious organizations will now to be free to serve as contract providers of equitable services. See Section C-28 on pages 36-37 of the guidance.

Second, the guidance reverses a previous policy that barred the pooling of Title I funds across public school districts. Section B-8, Subsection 3, on page 17, says:

From an October 7 DOJ release :

"The Department of Justice today filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, explaining that a Maine law that bans religious schools from the state’s school tuition program violates the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.

"The majority of Maine’s school districts do not operate their own high schools. Instead, those school districts may either contract with another school to educate their resident high school students, or they may pay tuition to the private high school of the parent’s choice—but only if the high school is not religious in nature. The plaintiffs in this case,  Carson v. Makin , all live in school districts that do not operate their own high schools and either send their children to a religious high school at their own expense, or would like to send their children to a religious high school but cannot afford to do so. They sued the Commissioner of Maine’s Department of Education, claiming that Maine law violates the United States Constitution.

"'Our Constitution guarantees that all people in our nation may exercise their religion free from discrimination by the government,' said Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband for the Civil Rights Division. 'The First Amendment’s religious freedom protections are especially important for families and children, and the Department of Justice is committed to ensuring that all children may participate equally in educational programs without discrimination because of their religion.'"

EdChoice has released the 7th Edition of its Schooling in America Survey . Among the key findings: