A Whopping 85% Of Maryland Students Are Not Proficient In Math After COVID School Closures

A full 85% of students in Maryland are not proficient in math, in large part due to the COVID-19 shutdowns of the past two years.

Fox Baltimore reported that results from recent state test scores revealed the “stunning amount of learning loss,” a prediction the outlet said experts made during the pandemic that has now come true. Fox reported:

The pandemic created a debate over education. On one side, some parents, and Baltimore City Schools CEO Sonja Santelises, were saying students need to be learning in person.

“The gap is getting wider,” Amy Adams, a parent in Baltimore County, told Project Baltimore back in October 2020.

“We are not raising the bar. We are lowering the bar,” added Sara Russell, another parent in Baltimore County who spoke with Fox45 News in 2020.

During a news conference in January 2021, Santelises supported a return to the classroom, saying “To ignore that — we do have families that want an in-person option — would be irresponsible.”

But on the other side of the debate, were the teachers’ unions and those fighting to keep learning virtual.

“We don’t want anyone forced back into buildings until it’s safe,” Diamonte Brown, the president of the Baltimore Teachers Union, said back in July 2021.

It appears the harm done to students by closing down schools is now apparent, with the scores from the 2021 Maryland Comprehensive Assessment Program – the first standardized state tests students have taken since the beginning of the pandemic – showing dire numbers in proficiency. – READ MORE