The entire public schools system earns an "F-"-----'Stark decline' in reading, math: 1/3 of 12th-graders are ready for college.

"The reading skills of American high school seniors are the worst they have been in three decades," reports Dana Goldstein in the New York Times. - Joanne Jacobs
"In math, 12th graders had the lowest performance since 2005."
Scores are in "stark decline," said Matthew Soldner of the National Center for Education Statistics.

• It was a sign that, among other skills, they may not be able to determine the purpose of a political speech. 
• In math, nearly half of the test takers scored below the basic level, meaning they may not have mastered skills like using percentages to solve real-world problems.

In the top 10th percentile, scores remained high, but average and low achievers did worse...