The President's Daily Brief - September 23rd, 2022. Our Kids are Back in School, How Are They Doing? Europe Prepares for a Cold, Dark Winter.

Episode Date: September 23, 2022

It’s September 23rd. You’re listening to the President’s Daily Brief. Your morning intel starts now. ------ The nation’s kids are back in school It’s the first time for many since the COVID pandemic. So how are the kids doing, academically and socially? Well, as it turns out, not good. We’ll discuss that, plus what you and I can do to help.  As always, I’m keeping an eye out for developing stories. Put this one on your radar. An update on the War of Attrition this morning. European nations are starting to realize how cold it’s going to get this winter without Russian natural gas. We’re going to talk about the latest measures they’re taking — from passing out blankets to taking out lightbulbs.  And finally, the last thing before I let you go. We’re going to talk about a piece of advice I got from my favorite teacher years ago. And it is good. ------ Please remember to subscribe if you enjoyed this episode of the President's Daily Brief. Email: [e-mail] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's September 23rd. You're listening to the President's Daily Brief. I'm your host and former CIA Officer Brian Dean Wright. Your morning intel starts now. First up, the nation's kids are back in school. It's the first time for many since the COVID pandemic. So how are the kids doing academically and socially? Well, as it turns out, not very good. We'll discuss that, plus what you and I can do to help. As always, I'm keeping an eye out for developing stories. Put this one on your radar. An update on the war of attrition this morning. European nations are starting to realize how cold it's going to get this winter without Russian natural gas. We're going to talk about the latest measures that they are taking from passing out blankets to taking out light bulbs. And finally,

the last thing before I let you go, we are going to talk about a piece of advice that I got from a favorite teacher of mine years ago, and I will tell you it is good. But first, let's get started with today's main brief. No matter what state you, live in. America's kids have been back at school now for a couple of weeks. That is a very good thing for lots of folks out there. My parents in particular, you know what I'm talking about, a few hours of reprieve each day. But look, jokes aside, how are the kids doing? It's an important question because for the past two years, many of our young people were locked out of classrooms because of COVID policies. And that denied them a whole host of things like friendships,

and sports, tutoring, in-person instruction. And it begs the question whether there was a cost. And if there was, how do we fix it? Can we fix it? This morning, we are going to dive into those questions. But to do so, we have to have a baseline of how America's kids were doing academically before the pandemic and then compare it to today. So let's start with the past right before the pandemic hit.

In terms of money, we were actually doing pretty much. well. America has long spent more cash per student than most other countries in the world. Only four nations, Luxembourg, Norway, Iceland, and Austria spend more than us. But America's test scores have not reflected that. In 2018, an analysis of 64 countries showed that America ranked eighth in reading skills, 11th in science, and 30th in math. Those scores have essentially been flat for decades. And if you dig into that data a bit further, there's actually one group of kids

whose test scores weren't just flat, but actually declining. And those were kids from poor families. As one example of many, in one school district in the borough of Bronx, New York, only 7% of students who enter ninth grade were ready for college four years later. And for black students,

that figure dropped to 4%. Now before the pandemic hit, there were a bunch of efforts trying to fix this, from private schools to charter schools, the latter of which are privately run but publicly funded. And there's some data that actually charter schools were working. So as an example, the charter schools institute, which is a state funded organization in New York, they released a study showing that charter schools in New York City vastly outperformed their counterparts in traditional public schools. So the point then, folks, is that we had an education problem in this country before the COVID pandemic arrived on our shores. But when it did, our politicians and public health officials decided to shut those schools down, shift everything to online or remote learning. So now that we are back in school, how are things looking?

Well, to give it to you straight, the data show that we have an absolute disaster on our hands. Fresh data from the nation's report card, officially called the National Assessment of Educational Progress. They just found that the average fourth graders reading score dropped five points since 2020. That's the most significant drop amongst that age group in over two decades. For math, the test results were even worse. The average nine-year-old scores dropped seven points, the most disappointing outcome since 1973. Now, worse yet, these test results are even worse for our poor and disadvantaged students, especially brown and black kids.

In math, for example, black students lost 13 points compared with five points amongst white students. But why is that? Why the lower test scores generally, and most especially amongst our poor and disadvantaged? We actually have the answer. Some very clear data tell the story. Last May, the Nonpartisan Bureau of Economic Research looked at data from 2.1 million students in 10,000 schools in 49 states plus D.C.

What they found was that when school districts went remote over the past couple of years, academic achievement collapsed. And that was true for all students of remote learning, regardless of race or class. But remote learning hurt some kids more than others. The study found that the poorest kids of this country suffered the most, because the school districts that they were in kept them in remote learning five and a half weeks longer than kids from wealthier families. In other words, remote learning is a terrible way for children to learn. But that's exactly what our most disadvantaged kids got.

There's also a political connection here, and as awkward as this might be, we need to talk about it. Data from this same study of 49 states showed that the worst test scores were in states run by Democrats. and the reason is that those folks stuck with remote learning longer than Republican states. Again, that's from the Nonpartisan Bureau of Economic Research, looking at over 2 million students, 10,000 schools, and 49 states. So this is not a political statement here. It's a statement of fact. Now, academics are just one part of this equation when we ask how the kids of America are doing.

In addition to faltering test scores, data suggests that, discipline in the classroom has suffered too, especially since the start of the pandemic. According to data from Duke and Columbia universities, the pandemic has made kids increasingly uncooperative and unruly with their teachers and each other. The universities assess that student mental health and social skills suffered because of isolation and a lack of friendships. Now, we have actually more data on this unruly student issue from another survey in May. It's actually from American teachers and principals. Of the 850 participants questioned, a third of them said that they saw an uptick in student fights or physical attacks when students return for

in-person learning. So for some teachers, this entire saga of shutdowns and unruly students has led to a breaking point. Well, first, they're burnout. According to a recent Gallup survey, 52% of K-12 teachers report that they feel burnout. That's the highest level amongst all other industries and careers, including law enforcement. Second, this burnout has led to teachers quitting in droves. The U.S. Department of Labor recently reported that some 300,000 public school teachers and other educational staff left their jobs in the past two years. That's a nearly 3% drop in that workforce. As a result, students have returned this fall to understaffed schools.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 44% of public schools are reporting teaching vacancies at the start of this year, more than half due to resignations. So research shows that these shortages disproportionately impact four kinds of kids, students of color, students from low-income backgrounds, students with disabilities, and students from rural communities. So folks, that means that we have two very big problems. First, America's kids are not doing all right.

Remote learning has destroyed over two decades of academic progress, especially for poor, rural and minority students. Meanwhile, the very people who could help them, teachers, are overburdened and hitting their breaking points. So all in all, we've got a crisis. And that is, of course, very bad news. But there is reason to hope. So let's now pivot from facts and data this morning to

analysis and opinion. And let's start with this. How do we fix this problem? On the teacher front, states and school districts are getting creative in finding new teachers, supporting those who remain, and embracing schools that are either public or private. So for example, in Florida, schools are recruiting military veterans to lead classroom instruction while they earn education credentials. Meanwhile, charter schools are continuing to be an important solution, as data from New York and elsewhere continue to show that they can deliver. Finally, the Supreme Court ruled earlier this summer in a case called Carson v. Malkin that parents can send their kids to religious schools using public money.

So that should be an option for families to consider. But there's something else critical that we need to talk about, something that contributes to teacher burnout, poor test scores, and unrulyed classrooms. And that's the health of the American family. Specifically, parents getting involved in their children's lives, especially at school. Now, this is a very big topic, but I want to share a story with you, a story of what happens when parents and family members get involved in a relatively small way. Last year, a high school in Shreveport, Louisiana became overwhelmed by violence. There were frequent assaults against teachers and staff. There were brawls between rival gang members. So school administrators

called an emergency meeting with parents, and after a few hours of discussion, a group of fathers came up with a pretty novel solution. It was called Dads on Duty. Around 40 men, not just fathers, but uncles and grandfathers and brothers, they all organized into six-person shifts to spend time on campus during the school day. Not necessarily patrolling like security guards, but just making themselves visible, offering smiles, affirmation, you know, maybe the occasional dad joke. As a result of this relatively simple idea, fights on campus and Shreveport declined,

and gang violence stopped immediately. Teachers were absolutely elated. They got their classrooms back. So, folks, that's the power of being present, of getting involved. One shift of dedicated adults, dads especially, well, one at a time. So the great news here is that all of us can do this. You don't even have to have kids.

Anybody can volunteer just a few hours every week and do what they did in Louisiana. So if your spirit is called to take action this morning, talk to your local school district and organize a group of dads from church or the gym or your golf buddies. Ask how you can help. Ask if they need some dads or moms on duty.

And by the way, if the school district is full of a, you know, a bunch of ninnies, a bunch of no thank yous. Well, it sounds like you might have to run for the school board. And that's actually not a joke. That is an earnest challenge. And that's because, you know, we are going to have another pandemic at some point. In fact, we hear public health officials say that all the time. Politicians say it too. And when the next one comes around, we are going to need better leadership than what we had during this last pandemic, which was full of panic and hysteria. Because what I think this brief shows us this morning is that we've got to do better for our teachers, for our communities, and for our kids. We've got to do better for the very future of our country.

Coming up, ladies and gentlemen, a closer look at what's on my radar. One brief for you on the war of attrition and how Europe is getting ready. We'll be right back. Own it all. Pay off your home. Travel for life. Drive a Ferrari. In celebration of the world premiere of the Monopoly Big Board Buckslot Machine by a car.

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When we talk about the war of attrition, the war between Russia, Ukraine, and the West, It's sometimes hard to really grasp how bad things are getting in Europe as they try to avoid freezing this winter, having been cut off from Russia's natural gas. Well, this morning, we've got some very personal examples of what people in Europe are having to endure and what governments are doing to scramble to prepare. So let's start in the Czech Republic. Yesterday, the national government announced that they were going to unscrew all light bulbs in government buildings and only replace half of them. and the replacements would be a special type of LED light bulbs. They're also installing sensors in office hallways. Movement will turn lights on now, no switch is required.

And they're turning off festive floodlights of all major landmarks. Finally, they're also lowering the heat from 72 degrees to 59 degrees, advising citizens to do the same. Moving from the Czech Republic to Romania, they're shutting off half of the exterior lights on the parliament building. Plus, festive lighting on major landmarks will be cut to no more than two hours per night. From Romania, we go to Poland. Government officials there are being required to turn off their computers when they leave for the day and disconnect all chargers.

External lights on government buildings like the finance ministry will be limited to two hours and only on weekends. In Poland, they're also replacing 38,000 light bulbs and street lamps, sort of like they're doing in the Czech Republic. Next, let's talk Denmark. The heat in government buildings cannot be higher now than 66 degrees. Banks in that country are now handing out blankets and jackets to both employees and customers. So all of this, by the way, is according to reports from Reuters, Bloomberg, and the Wall Street Journal. One final story on how bad it's getting. In the Netherlands, a family bakery shared with reporters is that last year, their monthly gas and electricity bill ran their business around $3,400 a month. This year, $18,300 a month.

That's a $15,000 monthly increase. The owner of that bakery, Dennis Tubast, said, quote, our monthly income has vanished. We are now working to pay the energy bills. Some pretty sobering stuff. Folks, this war of attrition is going to get very bad this winter. And as it does, I will bring you both stories of struggle and hope, because we are going to need both to be informed and sometimes to just get through it.

And with that, I've got one more thing before I let you go. We'll be right back. Olivia Rodriguez, the Unraveld Tour, cross North America with special guests. Get tickets Thursday, May 7th, at Olivia. via rodrigo.com. USAA knows dynamic duos can save the day, like superheroes and sidekicks or auto and home insurance. With USAA, you can bundle your auto and home and save up to 10%.

Tap the banner to learn more and get a quote at usa.com slash bundle. Restrictions apply. Welcome back to the PDB, ladies and gentlemen. I've got one more thing before I let you go. Jacqueline in Honolulu, Hawaii wrote in wondering what got me started at the CIA and specifically if there was a teacher who encouraged me. Well, Jacqueline, I have had quite a few teachers in my life who've done a lot of amazing things for me. First, my mom.

She went back to college when I was a boy and she became a special education teacher. I've also got two brothers, both of whom teach. And there's one person who is no longer with us. It's a man named Earl Trigsted. And what a man he was. He was born in 1933. He grew up in Chicago, joined the Navy, and served on the aircraft carrier Roosevelt during the Korean War. He went on to become a football coach and a teacher, government and history specifically.

And what a teacher he was. On the very first day of civics class, Mr. Trigsted, or Trigger, as we used to call him, he quieted us down and he stared at us for what felt like an eternity. And then he turned around of the chalkboard and he wrote two words. eternal vigilance. And then he turned back around and he pointed at those words and he said, for the rest of this class, for the rest of this semester, and for the rest of your life, you will remember those words because your government will ruin you and your freedoms

unless you are eternally vigilant. Man, I was probably 16 years old at the time, but I'll tell you, that man and that moment are burned into my mind like a fire-hot poker on cowhide because he was right. For the rest of that class, we learned about how our government could serve the people or how it could ruin the people. We talked about power, corruption, good versus evil. Trigger came from that generation of men and women who just got it. They lived to the era of real Nazis, real tyranny. They faced it and they died from it. And while they loved this country so very much, they also understood that we were an imperfect union and that even in America otherwise good people could go very bad. And the only way

to stop it was eternal vigilance. Trigger passed away four years ago, diagnosed with brain cancer on May 11th and the Lord took him home four months later. But what a legacy he left behind. serving his country, coaching football, raising his four children, along with his lovely wife, Jeannie. And for the young men and women who were in his classroom, he left the legacy of how to live with integrity and honor and love of country. And what he helped me and so many others realize is that loving this country means vigilance against unchecked power, against corruption, and against our enemies, both foreign and domestic. We sure miss you, Trigger. until we meet again.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, concludes your morning brief. As always, we close out the show reminding each other of why we are here, talking about our country and our world. It's the creed of every good spy

and every smart American. It's from John 8, verse 32. And you shall know the truth. And the truth shall make you free. Good day. I sold my car on Carvana last night. Well, that's cool.

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