Remarks by Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent before the Power of Innovation Summit

Thank you. I’m honored to be here. And I’d like to thank Janine and Jeff Yass for their extraordinary leadership of this organization. My primary duty as Treasury Secretary is to promote economic growth and opportunity. And tonight, I will discuss the critical role education reform plays in that effort. Education is economic infrastructure—which is why Treasury is deeply invested in questions of education policy. The performance of our K-12 students is a leading indicator for the future performance of our economy. And while America’s schools perform well globally, several warning lights are flashing red:According to recent data from the Nation’s Report Card, math scores for 13-year-olds just posted the largest drop in the test’s 50-year history. Reading scores for 9-year-olds saw their sharpest decline in decades. Only one in five high school juniors today meets college-readiness benchmarks. And chronic absenteeism has nearly doubled across the country.