Tipsheet

First Lady Claims Biden Is the 'Education President.' There's Just One Problem With That.

Leah Barkoukis
Leah Barkoukis  |  July 06, 2023 7:30 AM

During a speech before thousands of educators at the National Education Association assembly, first lady Jill Biden referred to her husband as the “education president,” despite what the Nation’s Report Card recently showed.

“I knew that Joe would always be the education president, because he knows that our nation’s — you know, the success of our nation starts with you, the educators who shape our students’ lives,” she said. “And so, you know, we’ve invested so much in our schools and our counselors and our nurses and administrators who make them all successful. And as he transforms, you know, our economy, creating millions of jobs that are shaping the future, he knows that education is key to filling those critical roles.”

But those investments are not proving effective, according to testing results. 

The Nation’s Report Card, released at the end of June, showed “historic” declines in math and reading scores among U.S. teens.

Math scores for 13-year-olds fell 9 points from the 2019-2020 and 2022-2023 school years, the National Assessment of Education Progress data showed, while reading scores dropped 4 points. 

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Former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos called the report a “5-alarm fire” and said “a generation is at risk.”

Reacting to the first lady's comments, Virginia Gov. Glen Youngkin said "she may be the only person that believes that."