Many of Alabama’s public school students are leaving the classroom after 12 years of schooling unprepared to successfully compete with peers, whether they’re aiming for post-secondary education or the workforce. If standardized test scores are the measure of success, Alabama’s effort is a dismal failure.

In late August, state board of education members laid down the law for school officials, saying improvement in student proficiency cannot wait, and that they must take action.

We echo that directive, with one addition: what’s required is drastic action.

State school board vice president Wayne Reynolds cited the most recent results of the National Assessment of Educational Progress — the Nation’s Report Card — which ranks Alabama at or near the bottom in reading and math skills. The figures are from 2019, but suggesting that the data is stale simply doesn’t fly.

One would hope proficiency of public school students in Alabama has improved, but it’s doubtful it’s soared to an acceptable level in three years’ time.

The most shameful part is that there is no reason Alabama’s students could not be hovering near the top of the scale rather than the bottom. Students in our state face challenges and obstacles that are not unlike those faced by students whose proficiency is far better. So what’s the barrier to success?

That’s the elusive and urgent question. Every year that passes without significant improvement in proficiency turns out another group of students who lack the basis skills to read and understand mathematics well enough to succeed in future endeavors.

The failure to succeed isn’t the student’s alone; the onus is on the state and the system responsible for ensuring their adequate preparation.