Steve Cortes, president of the League of American Workers, said that student achievement was severely hindered by COVID-19 lockdowns and that teachers’ unions bear responsibility for extended school closures.
“First, I don’t believe Gen Z is “dumber,” said Cortes, Founder. “But…their educational achievement was MASSIVELY stunted by the lockdowns. Primary blame for that abuse of children: the corrupt teachers unions.”
According to a special 2022 long-term trend assessment conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) “to examine student achievement during the COVID-19 pandemic,” average scores for 9-year-olds fell by 5 points in reading and 7 points in math compared to 2020. This marked the largest decline in reading since 1990 and the first recorded drop in math, providing a national snapshot of pandemic-era learning setbacks among elementary students.
A global analysis of 57 credible evaluations estimated average learning losses of about 0.14 standard deviations—equivalent to roughly seven months of schooling—following COVID-19 school closures. The study also found deeper losses where closures lasted longer and among disadvantaged groups, boys, and immigrant students, highlighting how prolonged remote instruction exacerbated preexisting inequalities in achievement.
Multiple empirical studies indicated that district reopening choices were influenced more by politics and teachers-union strength than by local COVID-19 conditions. Hartney & Finger’s EdWorkingPaper reported that “mass partisanship and teacher union strength best explain” whether districts remained remote in fall 2020; complementary research tracked union bargaining shaping reopening decisions through late winter in major districts.
Cortes is a political commentator and former financial strategist who worked on Donald Trump’s 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns. He has appeared on major networks including CNBC, Fox News, and CNN. Cortes founded the League of American Workers to advocate for economic policies benefiting U.S. citizens.
