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October 27, 2025
The Center of the American Experiment does a consistently nice job of tracking the academic performance of Minnesota students using the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Known as the nation’s report card, it is the standardized test used to compare student performance state by state. Unfortunately, Minnesota students are in shocking and catastrophic academic decline…. especially since Governor Walz took office.
In fact, students across the nation are in steep academic decline.
School closings during Covid certainly contributed in some ways to these declines. Without question, masking young children and their teachers interfered with speech and emotional development and language comprehension.
But there is something else that is rarely discussed. The actual decline began in 2013, long before Covid. That was the year Child Protection League formed to oppose the Safe and Supportive Schools Act (aka the Bullying Bill). Along with codifying radical gender ideology into curriculum law, the legislation also mandated that schools adopt Social Emotional Learning (SEL) strategies. This was the first time we had heard of SEL. By 2015, SEL was being methodically embedded into all subjects at all grade levels. And by 2017, Minnesota Early Learning Standards for birth to K were “updated” to also include SEL competencies. Notice that is the same year the decline began to accelerate.
Preschoolers in 2017 were 4th graders in 2022. Their test results indicate ‘something’ happened in 2017 which launched them on a trajectory of academic failure.
The Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment (MCA) is another testing measure used in Minnesota. 2019 was the last full testing year before 2025. In 2019 these preschoolers were first graders. Comparing statewide proficiency rates between 2019 and 2025, one finds the same shocking declines in proficiency statewide for all students in math, reading and science.
Math proficiency
- 2019: 55% of students were proficient in math.
- 2025: Only 45% of students were proficient in math.
Reading proficiency
- 2019: 59% of students were proficient in reading.
- 2025: Only 50% of students were proficient in reading.
Science proficiency
- 2019: 50.7% of students were proficient in science.
- 2023: Only 39.6% of students were proficient in science – a new assessment was designed in 2025 so the results cannot be compared with 2019 results
It’s not because schools are underfunded. Look at how much funding has increased since 2020 with no corresponding academic improvement!
So, what’s going on? Why are the majority of Minnesota students unable to demonstrate grade level math, reading and science? Why are they failing so miserably academically? What is happening in Minnesota classrooms? What are they learning instead of math, reading and science?
These are questions we will explore more fully in the coming months as calls for School Choice options grow. And rightly so. Since the majority of American students are declining academically, proposals to ‘fix’ the problems there are growing.
However, some of the fixes could be trojan horses which will destroy real opportunities for academic freedom and exit from government run schools.
Stay tuned. More to come.
Save the Date! Child Protection League is hosting an exciting conference on April 25, 2026. Lara Logan will keynote the event and Liz Collin will be the MC. This event will sell out so mark your calendars now and watch for registration information which will open in January 2026.
