re: 65% of 8th graders can't read

Headline is misleading. An 8th grader reading at 7th grade level is NOT proficient but CAN read.

Where there are tons of poor kids reading and math skills lag. This is, in part, because kids who used to drop out of school early are staying in school and being tested (unlike in 1960). And, millions of special ed kids are being served in schools (good thing) longer and are being tested and those scores are factored in. That was not true in the 1950s.

But, in thousands of public school districts all over the country, kids are reading at above grade levels and doing math well.

It is a good thing public schools exist because, if they did not, most of those poor, under-achieving kids would be without any reading or math skills and running the streets.