Has every educational statistic gotten worse since the Department of Education was created?

Multiple long-term educational indicators show clear increases since the federal Department of Education was created in 1979.

By 2020, the percent of adults 18-24 with a high school diploma or alternative credential had increased to 94.3 from 83.9 in 1980. The National Center for Education Statistics reported public high school graduation rates of 87% nationally and 81% in Oklahoma.

Scores on the NAEP long-term trend reading and mathematics assessments, typically administered to 9-, 13-, and 17-year-old students nationwide every four years, have also increased over the past five decades, except for the 10th and 25th percentile reading and 10th percentile mathematics scores for 13-year-olds, which decreased.

The average reading score for 13-year-olds is only one point above the 1971 score; however, reading and mathematics scores for 9- and 13-year-olds peaked well above their 1970s scores in 2012 before declining.