A Wall Street Journal opinion column published March 3 argues that American schools are increasingly focused on ideological debates over gender identity while many students continue to struggle with basic academic skills such as reading and math.
In the column, titled “Why Johnny Can’t Read Anything Other Than Pronouns,” author Jason Riley points to a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision allowing a lower-court ruling to stand that said California schools must notify parents if a child begins using different pronouns or otherwise adopts a “gender identity” at school different from their sex.
The court, in a 6-3 unsigned decision with liberal justices dissenting, said parents are likely to succeed in their claim that schools violated the Constitution by withholding such information. The ruling said parents have a right to “direct the upbringing and education of their children.”
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Riley argues that disputes over gender identity reflect what he describes as misplaced priorities in the nation’s education system. While many students struggle academically, he writes that educators and policymakers have become increasingly focused on ideological initiatives rather than basic instruction.
“Far too many children are still assigned to substandard schools,” Riley writes, adding that many students “remain unable to read or do math at grade level.” Instead of addressing those problems, he argues that schools have become “laboratories for esoteric ideological projects,” with educators focused on helping students “transition behind their parents’ backs” or promoting what he calls “social-justice poppycock to promote trendy political causes.”
At the same time, Riley writes that academic concerns receive less attention than cultural debates in education policy.
“American kids are outperformed by their foreign peers on international exams while we have to concern ourselves with whether school libraries make sexually explicit texts available to third-graders,” he writes.
“For a growing number of people in charge of the public education establishment, making sure that boys can play on girls’ sports teams has become more important than making sure students are acquiring basic academic skills that will enable them to learn a trade, complete college, become productive adults.”
Selective schools debate
The column also criticizes efforts to change admissions policies at selective public high schools, which admit students based on standardized test scores and other academic criteria. Riley cites schools such as Boston Latin School, Stuyvesant High School in New York City, and Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, Virginia, as examples of institutions with long records of academic rigor.
According to Riley, these schools are increasingly facing pressure from policymakers who argue that selective admissions systems contribute to racial and economic disparities.
The column highlights a study by the Manhattan Institute that examined proposals in Chicago to eliminate selective-enrollment public high schools. The study found extremely low academic proficiency at some Chicago Public Schools campuses, including 53 schools in 2024 where no students tested proficient in math and 17 where none tested proficient in reading.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and other Democratic leaders have attributed poor academic outcomes to insufficient resources, but Riley writes that spending per pupil in the district has nearly doubled since 2017 and that teacher salaries are among the highest for large school systems after adjusting for cost of living.
Riley argues that proposals to limit school-choice programs in Chicago could require students to attend assigned neighborhood schools and not have the option to attend selective-enrollment campuses.
According to the Manhattan Institute report cited in the column, nearly seven in 10 students enrolled in Chicago’s selective-enrollment high schools are black or hispanic, and at least one-third come from low-income families. The report also found that achievement gaps in math and English between racial and income groups were smaller at the city’s top selective schools compared with the district overall.