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FOUNDED 1962

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NEWS

“MAKING OUR SCHOOLS BEST IN CLASS”

In the latest Ripon Forum, Secretary Aimee Rogstad Guidera lays out the plan to improve education in Virginia. Plus, a special preview of the GOP’s “Commitment to America.”

WASHINGTON, DC — With students returning to school this month, the latest edition of The Ripon Forum focuses on the effort to improve education in America and how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted learning — and youth mental health — over the past two years. 

Leading the Forum’s coverage of this critical issue is Aimee Rogstad Guidera.  Guidera serves as Secretary of Education for the Commonwealth of Virginia.  In the journal’s lead essay, she writes about how student performance in the Commonwealth had begun to decline even before the pandemic, and the plan being put in place under the leadership of Governor Glenn Youngkin to improve education in Virginia schools in the years ahead.

“Recently released annual (Spring ‘22) test scores underscore the urgency of the crisis,” Guidera writes.  “In math, for example, only 66% of our students are passing the test of their grade level standards, and it is shockingly worse for our economically disadvantaged (52%), Black (42%), Hispanic (53%), and students with disabilities (39%). The results are similar for our science scores.  When society accepts that half of our traditionally underserved student populations are not mastering critical grade level expectations, we are condemning them to a life of diminished possibilities.”

“Under Governor Youngkin, our North Star is high expectations aligned to the demands of the knowledge economy for every student and school. All learners must be empowered with multiple pathways to post-secondary success which provide valuable exposure to the world of work.  Therefore, we are launching at least 20 lab schools which will bring together higher education, employers, schools, and community partners to provide innovative approaches to raising student achievement while also building bridges with the world outside school walls.”

Guidera goes on to detail further efforts the Youngkin Administration will be launching, including more fully engaging and empowering parents and teachers, whom she calls “the two most important factors in student success.”

Also writing in this latest edition is American Enterprise Institute Scholar Frederick Hess, who examines the state of schooling in the wake of the pandemic and why policymakers must make every effort to help students catch up.  “Researchers have found that students lost the equivalent of one-third to one-half of a year in reading, and nearly twice that in math,” Hess writes, referring to the impact of closures and shutdowns on American youth.  Referring to the “disruption, politics, and assorted nonsense” that has plagued education over the past few years, Hess also urges public officials and school leaders “to eschew the sideshows and focus on getting kids back on track.”

According to U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer (MN-6), policymakers also need to focus on the mental health of students, which, he writes, also took a hit over the past two years. “The CDC found earlier this year that 37% of high school students reported suffering from persistent mental health struggles, including stress, anxiety, and depression during the pandemic,” the lawmaker writes.  “The earlier we help our youth who are struggling, the more likely we will be able to ensure a productive and prosperous future for the next generation.”

One other way to help students, writes Martin Lueken of EdChoice, is by providing them an option of where they go to learn.  “Educational choice,” Lueken argues, “is a commonsense policy to fix the adverse incentives underlying the public [school] system by placing parents where they belong: in the driver’s seat of their own children’s education.”

In addition to examining the effort to improve education in Virginia and elsewhere across the country, the latest Ripon Forum also includes a special preview of the GOP’s “Commitment to America,” which is set to be officially unveiled this Friday and will lay out the Republican agenda if the party holds a majority in the House of Representatives next year.  Writing essays in this regard are six of the seven Task Force Chairs responsible for developing this agenda, including:

And in the latest Ripon Profile, Brian Kemp discusses, among other topics, his proudest achievement as Governor of Georgia.  “When I ran for Governor,” he tells the Forum, “I committed to putting hardworking Georgians first ahead of the status quo. While we’ve accomplished much in pursuit of this goal, such as raising teacher pay and cutting state income taxes, I’m most proud our state has led the nation in recovering from the economic turmoil caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.”

The Ripon Society is a public policy organization that was founded in 1962 and takes its name from the town where the Republican Party was born in 1854 – Ripon, Wisconsin. One of the main goals of The Ripon Society is to promote the ideas and principles that have made America great and contributed to the GOP’s success. These ideas include keeping our nation secure, keeping taxes low and having a federal government that is smaller, smarter and more accountable to the people.

The Ripon Forum is published six times a year by The Ripon Society, a public policy organization that was founded in 1962 and takes its name from the town where the Republican Party was born in 1854 – Ripon, Wisconsin. One of the main goals of The Ripon Society is to promote the ideas and principles that have made America great and contributed to the GOP’s success. These ideas include keeping our nation secure, keeping taxes low and having a federal government that is smaller, smarter and more accountable to the people.

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