Karoline Leavitt credits staggering reading stat for why Trump will 'abolish' Education Department entirely

White House property caput Karoline Leavitt pointed to mediocre proficiency statistic successful schools to warrant President Trump's program to dismantle the Education Department – by citing a survey that was funded by the section helium wants to eliminate.

Leavitt made the comments connected the northbound tract of the White House amid a government-wide unit purge, with a Thursday deadline for 2 cardinal employees to determine whether to instrumentality status that has them permission successful September.    

She dodged a question astir whether Trump planned to wholly instrumentality isolated the Department, which was created successful 1979 by Congress and which Trump has called a haven for 'radicals, zealots and Marxists.' An bid being prepared for Trump would commencement the process.

'In information I person a statistic successful beforehand of me: 70% of 8th graders are astatine a beneath proficient level successful mathematics and speechmaking – 70%!' she told Fox News successful an interview. 'And that’s contempt spending hundreds of billions of dollars connected acquisition each azygous year.'

Education argumentation experts person agelong eyed concerning drops successful U.S. pupil proficiency, including aft pandemic 'learning loss.'

The trial Leavitt was referencing is the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), funded done yearly appropriations by Congress. It has spent years periodically investigating U.S. 4th and 8th graders to nutrient metrics to assistance argumentation makers and schoolhouse districts astir the country.

For the anterior year, 70% of eighth graders didn't conscionable NAEP's proficiency standards successful reading. In math, it was 73%, connected par with the fig Leavitt cited. The trial was successful the tract successful 2024 and 2022, and revealed some a concerning driblet successful proficiency and a persistent accomplishment gap between high-achieving and debased performing students.

That is thing the Education Department tries to code done Title 1 backing grants to low-income schools, 1 of the areas it funds on with pupil loans, higher acquisition grants, and programs for students with disabilities.

The appraisal programs themselves get a enactment point successful the Education Department's budget. Last year, the Biden Administration requested $185 cardinal for the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), which measures pupil occupation solving and knowledge, to let for comparisons connected a year-to-year basis.

It is 'the largest continuing and nationally typical appraisal of what our nation's students cognize and tin bash successful prime subjects,' according to the NAEP study card. 

Trump's 2020 fund included a requested spending summation for the test, portion slashing funds for National Institutes of Health and calling for cuts for the National Science Foundation.

DailyMail.com has reached retired to the White House for further comment. 

Trump himself this week besides cited U.S. pupil performance, comparing accomplishment to planetary peers.

He said 'we're ranked 40 retired of 40' successful the world, though assessments for teens amusement the U.S. is placing astir mean around the globe – inactive not the level officials would prefer.

In her Fox interview, Leavitt said 'the existent strategy located successful Washington, D.C. is not working. And the president is committed to ensuring that states and parents person a greater accidental successful our children's acquisition system.'

She said Trump is 'wholeheartedly committed to spending cuts, and of course, making the authorities much businesslike – that’s portion of what DOGE is already hitting the crushed moving to do. When it comes to the Department of Education, the president and his argumentation squad continued to look astatine options and however to trim the size of the Department of Education if not abolished it completely.'

'You perceive the president accidental fractional jokingly but besides serious, helium wants Linda McMahon, who volition pb that agency, to enactment herself retired of the job. Because helium wants to crook the acquisition strategy backmost to the states,' she said.