Ranking Member Scott Statement on the Nation’s Report Card

Ranking Member Scott Statement on the Nation's Report Card

WASHINGTON - House Education and Workforce Committee Ranking Member Robert C. "Bobby" Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement after the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) released the results of the 2025 Long Term Trends (LTT) National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) results for 9- and 13-year-olds in reading and math.

"The latest Nation's Report Card serves as a stark reminder that our nation's students continue to face significant academic challenges that demand serious attention and sustained investment. While this nation's nine-year-olds showed modest gains in reading compared to 2022, 13-year-olds showed no significant improvement in either reading or mathematics. Even more troubling, reading achievement has shown little meaningful growth since 1971, and long-term math performance has fallen to its lowest level in more than a decade.

"These results should be a call to action. Instead, the Trump Administration continues its illegal efforts to dismantle the Department of Education through interagency agreements that would transfer core K-12 responsibilities-including administering funding for low-income and rural schools-to the Department of Labor. At a time when students need greater support, these actions threaten the federal government's ability to ensure educational opportunity for disadvantaged students.

"Today's findings also underscore why the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) is essential. We cannot improve what we do not measure. IES houses NCES and the National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB), which sets the policies for NAEP and conducts crucial data analysis that lets us know how our students are performing. Yet the Trump Administration has repeatedly targeted IES for cuts that jeopardize critical research and data collection, including working on the Nation's Report Card.

"Despite these attacks, Congressional Democrats remain committed to investing in public education, protecting the Department of Education, and ensuring every child, regardless of background or zip code, has access to a high-quality education."

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