A Public School
Manifesto

An investigation into why America's schools are working harder—while too many students are learning less.

Something doesn't
add up.

This didn't start with COVID.

Rising investment, declining student achievement, and educator burnout were already evident before the pandemic.

What changed dramatically afterward was chronic absenteeism.

EVIDENCE 01
Record investment.
EVIDENCE 02
Student achievement moved in a different direction.
EVIDENCE 03
Highest burnout of any U.S. profession.
EVIDENCE 04
Chronic absenteeism nearly doubled since 2019.

Exhibit One

This isn't one district.
It's a national conversation.

CHOOSE YOUR STATE

A teacher standing alone in a classroom at the end of the day, looking at a wall of student work. — Exhibit Two
Investment continued to rise.
Student achievement moved in a different direction.

Exhibit Three

NAEP · Grade 4 average scale scores · The Nation's Report Card

Investment · U.S. per-pupil current expenditure, inflation-adjusted · Shown on its own scale

Behind the numbers

The numbers have a human shape.

A teacher preparing after school in a quiet classroom. — Great teachers are working harder than ever.
Click to examine →

A student at home during the school day; a yellow bus visible through the window. — More students aren't in the room to receive what they're giving.
Click to examine →

Highest burnout of any U.S. profession

Gallup · K–12 workers

Chronic absenteeism nearly doubled since 2019

U.S. Department of Education · National Center for Education Statistics

And yet

Hang on.
This isn't happening everywhere.

A teacher working with a small group of engaged students around a classroom table.

108 districts gained in both reading and mathematics.

More than 13,000 public school districts. These 108 moved against the larger trend.

Education Recovery Scorecard · May 2026

Same pressures.
Different results.

So what are they doing differently?

District of Columbia Public Schools
Washington, D.C.
Reading and math both above pre-pandemic levels.
Compton Unified
California
Sustained gains across grade levels and demographics.
Cambridge Public Schools
Massachusetts
Full recovery in reading; math ahead of 2019.
Solon City Schools
Ohio
Among the districts with strongest combined growth.
Mobile County Schools
Alabama
Significant gains in both subjects despite similar pressures.
Jefferson County Public Schools
Kentucky
Sustained recovery in reading and math across a large urban district.

Source · Education Recovery Scorecard, 2026

Which is why

Public schools don't look the same
from every seat.

The school you just experienced looks different depending on where you sit. Understanding begins when we start where we are—and remain willing to see from somewhere else.

Four seats. One conversation.