Joe Biden should declare a state of emergency over the alarming state of education in America.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, math and reading scores for U.S. 9-year-olds in 2022 will drop 5 points in reading and 7 points in math compared to 2020. In mathematics, the National Assessment of Educational Progress reported.

These 9-year-olds are the demographic leaders in the struggle for elementary, middle and high school students after two years of pandemic distance learning disrupted education.

“Students in 2022 are performing at levels last seen 20 years ago,” said NCES Associate Commissioner Daniel McGrath.

If there was ever a reason for Biden to take urgent action, it is. Such a move would benefit far more people than his recent student loan debt relief plan.

No problem for private school students as most were open during the COVID quarantine. The rest of America’s children must pull back from the loss of learning.

To make matters worse, 2022 doesn’t start from a strong position. There is a severe shortage of teachers across the country, including in Massachusetts. About a third of teachers and principals said they were likely to quit their current jobs by the end of the 2021-2022 school year, according to a Rand survey this summer.

why?

“Teachers and school staff have struggled for years with a lack of professional respect; inadequate support and resources; substandard compensation; unbearable student loan debt; endless paperwork; It’s a culture of blame that weaponizes standardized tests to attack teachers in schools and public schools,” Randy Weingarten, president of the National Federation of Teachers, said in a statement.

Biden can’t do much to increase respect, but he can do something to increase his support.

By declaring a state of emergency in education, Biden can free up federal funds to shore up lagging resources in schools across the country. The Pandemic Relief Fund is under pressure, but the need is clearly great.

And when it comes to student loan debt relief, teachers have to take the lead.

The Federal Teacher Loan Waiver Program forgives direct or FFEL subsidized or unsubsidized loans of up to $17,500 after five consecutive years of teaching at a qualified school. Why not do something more to ease the burden of debt and keep more teachers in the classroom? why do not you?

If you take a direct loan, the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program will forgive the remaining balance after you’ve made 120 qualifying payments (estimated over a 10-year period). That’s his ten-year struggle in a burnout-prone field. Why not make the loan interest free until it reaches 10 years?

American schools and their schoolchildren have a lot of work ahead of them while putting the pandemic on the back burner. The Biden administration has proven to be adept at spending money like water. A lot can be done by redirecting some of the big bucks to the future of this country.