The 4x Solution to America’s Education Achievement Crisis

You don't know what I actually think is the biggest threat to the future of the country over the next 20 years? It's actually the educational achievement crisis in this country. This is a big deal and nobody's talking about it. 75% of 8th graders, they're not proficient in math for their own grade level. 70% of them aren't proficient in English. The average student in China, get this, is now a full four years ahead of the average student here in the United States. That doesn't work for us. In an era of AI, quantum computing, in the sectors of the future that are now rising, think about how far back that sets the United States unless we turn this ship around. Personal to me, I'm a parent of two young sons and, God willing, a daughter next year. I think a lot about this, hopefully as the next leader and governor of our state of Ohio. We've got to turn this ship around. We have a moral obligation to this country to do it. The 20th century was America's century. If we want the 21st century to be America's century once again, the number one input to do it is make sure that our youth are actually empowered with that world-class education that, look, I believe is the birthright of every American and every Ohioan. Let's just forget the government for a second. Let's talk about what you can do as a parent. If you're a patriotic parent, if you love this country, one of the most patriotic things you can do for your country is to make sure that your kids are able to read by the end of third grade. Make sure they're able to do algebra, basic algebra, by the end of eighth grade. Make sure they know about the Constitution and U.S. history by the end of twelfth grade. I don't think that's too much to ask. Kids who are able to read by the end of third grade are four times more likely to graduate from high school and therefore more than four times more likely to actually end up as productive members of the workforce that are able to live and stand on their own two feet. This is up to us as parents. Frankly, education begins in the household, with the family, and that's not something the government's going to be able to snap your finger and cause to come into existence. This is where it's up to the public schools, up to the states, we're going to start in Ohio to lead the way and actually fill that gap, even where many students who don't grow up in the right family structure are still able to thrive. In the state of Ohio, when I'm leading it, if you're not able to read by the end of third grade, you're not going to go to fourth grade. Many people may find that controversial. That's not cruelty. That's true compassion. True cruelty is just passing our kids along a system where they're set up to fail. Earlier this year, there was a woman who sued a school in Connecticut where her daughter graduated with honors and she couldn't read. Think about that. That's insulting. It's unacceptable that our country is operating public schools at this standard. We're going to require real common sense solutions, and it's not too much. It's not too complicated. There's this thing called the science of reading. Technically, it's law. It's not really applied in so many of the public schools. Think about even the math teachers who are teaching math to get competent in algebra by the end of eighth grade. You've got to have teachers who know the subject matter they're actually teaching, and yet the current certification standards, for all the nonsense they do include, don't actually include basic math competency for the math teachers who are supposed to be teaching that math to our kids. See, this isn't about left versus right stuff. This is common sense. The local school leaders should actually be able to determine the compensation and rewards of the teachers who actually work there. That sounds so simple, it feels odd for me to say it, and yet today, in Ohio, as in most states, schools can't do that because of collective bargaining agreements for teachers unions. Enough with it. At the end of the day, the sole purpose of our education system should be to stand for the achievement of our students. Right now, our country requires that. The future of American leadership depends on it. If you're a patriotic parent, you can do your part. I'm going to ask you to do your part, but for the rest of you, I hope that we're able to have public schools, particularly here in Ohio, that set a standard for the rest of the country for what true excellence actually looks like. A lot of Democrats in this state, a lot of people on the other side are going to take issue with this. We'll ask them what they're actually opposing if they're standing against the achievement of our students. I'll wait for a good answer and a good explanation that I don't think is actually going to come.