Kayleigh McEnany: Nation’s Report Card shows devastating effects of school closures
'Outnumbered' panel discusses the drop in student performance in all subjects and the role of coronavirus school closures.
The "Outnumbered" panel tore into the media's failure to recognize the harm caused by COVID-19 lockdowns as new data indicates massive learning losses during school closures.
According to the National Assessment of Education Progress, reading scores dropped three points since the start of the pandemic and math scores dropped as much as eight points among fourth and eighth-grade students.
Tuesday's panelists argued the trend was recognizable as it was developing and criticized liberal media pundits and Democratic officials who are only now acknowledging the problem.
"It was entirely predictable," co-host Kayleigh McEnany said.
A sign taped to the front door of Pulaski International School of Chicago reads, School Closed after Chicago Public Schools, the nation's third-largest school district, said it would cancel classes since the teachers' union voted in favor of a return to remote learning, in Chicago, Jan. 5, 2022. REUTERS/Jim Vondruska (REUTERS/Jim Vondruska)
"Reading scores fell far enough to erase three decades of gains, and math scores saw their biggest drop ever."
McEnany, as White House press secretary in the Trump administration in 2020, sounded the alarm on the harm caused by pandemic-era lockdowns. But CNN’s Jake Tapper claimed Thursday, "There hasn't been a national conversation about the damage done to kids because of these school closures and the virtual learning and everything."
The panel blasted Tapper, and McEnany reiterated that the problem was always evident.
"The data was always there. We knew this would happen," she said.
"Fox & Friends" co-host Brian Kilmeade called on pundits like Tapper to admit they were wrong in brushing off educational concerns while focusing on masking and lockdowns. He then demanded aid be provided to students with unspent COVID-19 relief funding.
"There should be a national movement now to get these kids some extra help and some tutoring with the money that we set aside," he said.
Ellen Phillips virtually teaches a second grade class for students who are either at home or in a separate classroom as in-person learning resumes with restrictions in place to prevent the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at Rover Elementary School in Tempe, Arizona, U.S., August 17, 2020. REUTERS/Cheney Orr (REUTERS/Cheney Orr)
Co-host Emily Compagno noted "the coverage was always there" of the developing crisis but argued it was ignored by progressives because of their bias.
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"Our left-wing media has a deaf ear to anything coming out of this network," she said.
"The worst part about this is, because of the apologist left-wing media for the Democrat platform and for their anti-Trump obsession, it was to the detriment of our children."
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