According to the topline NAEP scores, Texas ranked 42nd in fourth-grade reading, 12th in fourth-grade math, 46th in eighth-grade reading and 32nd in eighth grade math.

Yet we must remember scores like these don’t happen in a vacuum.

It’s important to consider our state ranked in the bottom 10 of all states in per-student funding, according to the annual Quality Counts report produced by Education Week. In the 2011 biennium, Texas cut $5.3 billion from the public education budget, leaving schools scrambling to operate with less funding despite a growing student population. By 2016, total per-student spending when adjusted for inflation was still $3.2 billion below what it was in 2008.

In addition, in Texas nearly 3.1 million students, or 58 percent, are economically disadvantaged and over 1 million students, or 19 percent, are learning English as a second language. How Texas tackles the challenges these students face, will impact not just our own state, but the rest of the nation. Other states will look to Texas for solutions on how to improve outcomes for an increasingly poor and diverse student population. Just as it has in the past, Texas must continue to lead the way toward proven programs that address this population’s needs.