Teacher's tearful video spotlights nationwide literacy crisis in high schools

In a viral Instagram clip, Texas educator Darius Williams broke down while describing how his senior English students could not read or answer questions about two short paragraphs. He links this personal experience to National Assessment of Educational Progress data that reveal roughly 44% of Houston 8th-graders reading below basic and similarly low scores in Baltimore, Chicago and Philadelphia for both reading and math.

Williams points out that Black and Latino students constitute a disproportionate share of these poor results, suggesting systemic inequities. He also references a 2025 UC-San Diego report showing a thirty-fold increase in college attendees whose math abilities fall below high-school level, and notes that students at top public and private universities struggle to read extensive course material. The commentary argues that the public-education system is failing students nationwide, threatening the country's future prospects.