Biden admin highlights historic education funding, ignores worsening outcomes

The Biden administration released a “fact sheet” on Tuesday highlighting its support of K-12 education as students return to school. However, its “facts” were misleading, critics say.

“Since Day One, President Biden has worked to help every school open safely for in-person instruction, accelerate academic achievement, and build communities where all students feel they belong,” read the press release.  

The first achievement listed is “Securing the Largest Investment in Public Education in History to Help Students Get Back to School and Recover Academically.” 

While nobody can deny Biden gave $190 billion in pandemic relief funds for K-12 education, those funds didn’t appear to do much good. Even a journalist from left-leaning CNN observed the reliefs funds “haven’t reversed learning loss.”  

“Considering all the additional instruction time needed to catch up, it’s likely that some students will still be behind by the time the federal money runs out in September 2024,” concluded CNN politics writer Katie Lobosco.  

Another purported achievement of the Biden administration is expanded access to mental health support in schools. But despite additional billions of dollars spent, teen suicide rates are still on the rise. Moreover, overall depression rates in the U.S. have reached a record high, with 29% of adults being diagnosed – 10 points higher than in 2015.  

In 2022, 15% of youth aged 12-17 reported experiencing one or more major depressive episodes. 

The release also touted Biden’s expansion of “Community Schools that Improve Academic Success.”  

“Federal funding for this model has increased five-fold over the course of this Administration,” the release says.  

Meanwhile, national standardized test scores have plummeted, and only one-third of America’s 4th graders can read proficiently.

And while the Biden-Harris administration boasts of “building an effective, diverse teacher pipeline,” there are roughly 55,000 vacant educator positions and another 270,000 positions filled by underqualified educators. Those numbers were 53% and 69% increases, respectively, from the previous year.  

And to make matters even worse, enrollment in teacher training programs is also declining.