OPINION:
At this year’s Scripps National Spelling Bee, all six finalists came from Asian immigrant families. Twenty-nine of the past 35 champions, including 2024 winner Faizan Zaki, have been Indian American.
These results aren’t genetic destiny. They reflect a culture of discipline and involvement. More than 60% of national bee contestants have a dedicated study partner, usually a parent or sibling.
The lesson is clear: High expectations and hands-on support matter.
However, many American students lack both. One-third of American children are raised by single parents, limiting time and resources. When they look to schools for structure, they often find dysfunction instead.
Public education, once a vehicle for opportunity, is now bogged down by entrenched systems prioritizing job protection over student outcomes. For decades, teachers unions have resisted reform, safeguarded tenure and blocked accountability.
The spelling gap is just the surface issue. American students now rank ninth in reading, 16th in science and 34th in math, just ahead of Malta. In East Asia, 41% of Singaporean students and 32% of Taiwanese are considered “top performers” in math.
In the U.S.? Seven percent.
Meanwhile, America’s overall competitiveness has dropped from first in 2018 to 12th in 2024, according to Switzerland’s IMD World Competitiveness Center.
Pandemic school closures, backed by American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten, sent testing scores into free fall. In 2022, math scores among eighth-graders hit their lowest point ever recorded.
Many schools remained closed entering 2023. The situation was so bad that Ms. Weingarten was forced to testify before a House committee in April 2023. She admitted that she colluded with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to keep teachers out of the classroom and prolong school closures through many of the union’s 3,000 local affiliates nationwide.
Later that year, it was revealed that President Biden vowed to “not abandon” Ms. Weingarten, a major Democratic donor, on school closures despite campaigning to reopen schools by his 100th day in office. His own secretary of education, Miguel Cardona, noted that denying children access to school was “appalling and unacceptable.” Mr. Biden and that union alliance endured for years at the expense of children’s education.
This is why Americans are so fed up with public schools. They are tired of the tenure system that makes it nearly impossible to fire incompetent teachers. Last year, private school enrollment exceeded 1 million students for the first time in U.S. history. Nearly 50% of private schools are experiencing enrollment increases.
Even more striking: Homeschooling, once fringe, is now mainstream. Since 2018, homeschooling in California (up 78%) and Massachusetts (up 55%) has soared.
Today, more than 3.7 million students are homeschooled. Academic research suggests they are thriving.
Now, Congress is considering a response. Buried in the House reconciliation bill, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, is the country’s first-ever national school voucher program. It would provide $5 billion annually in federal funds to help families access nonpublic education.
As public school teachers embrace nonunion opportunities, unions fearing lost dues predictably oppose this new schooling. Last year, more than 12,500 National Education Association union members refused to pay dues, continuing a multiyear decline. Yet NEA President Becky Pringle continued to earn nearly $450,000 in total compensation.
Apparently, union pay is not tied to performance.
• Rick Berman is president of RBB Strategies.
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