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This article makes the case that within the "INT" (Importance, Neglectedness & Tractability) framework for effective philanthropy, Eduction is neither neglected

This article makes the case that within the "INT" (Importance, Neglectedness & Tractability) framework for effective philanthropy, Eduction is neither neglected nor tractable and that the money being spent by the billionaires is in some cases "cancelling out" the grassroots movements to improve education. Yes, Education is undoubtedly an important problem to solve and the "return on investment" to society is huge, but it's one which already receives significant investment/budget and throwing more money at the problem is often counterproductive. While the article does not mention Finland, I feel it should. Finland has considerably better education standards than (any state in the) USA by all measures on PISA https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Programme_for_International_Student_Assessment https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Programme_for_International_St... In 2014, the U.S. spent an average of $12,157 per student on elementary and secondary education. see: https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/020915/what-country-spends-most-education.asp https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/020915/what-country... Finland's education budget is €2,100 per capita. ($2,400 USD i.e. less than 20% of the spending!) Spending less money leads to a much better outcome for students. No billionaires required. Just take the profit out of education. Tuition fees are _strictly prohibited by law in Finland. Which means everyone receives the same standard of education regardless of their parents/family's financial situation. see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Finland https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Finland Why Finland has the Best Education (Michael Moore Doc): https://youtu.be/XQ_agxK6fLs https://youtu.be/XQ_agxK6fLs Summary: No homework! All schools are the same standard. Top 10 Reasons Finland has the World’s Best School System: https://youtu.be/zmG4smezeME https://youtu.be/zmG4smezeME Further reading: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/why-are-finlands-schools-successful-49859555/ https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/why-are-finlands-s...

throwaway8798 8y ago
You're conflating two different statistics: US spending per pupil is $12,300 Finland spending per pupil is $9,800 https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/pdf/coe_cmd.pdf https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/pdf/coe_cmd.pdf If you want to look at per capita spending, the article says the US spends about 668 billion, divided by a population of 321 million, you get about $2080 per capita. So if you're calculating it that way, the US actually spends _less_ per capita than Finland.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
- rglovejoy 8y ago
  > If you want to look at per capita spending, the article says the US spends about 668 billion, divided by a population of 321 million, you get about $2080 per capita. > So if you're calculating it that way, the US actually spends _less_ per capita than Finland. Nobody is calculating it that way: the US does not have 321 million schoolchildren.
  - jacobolus 8y ago
    > Nobody is calculating [education budgets per capita] The top-level poster did, in a (hopefully unintentionally) grossly misleading apples-to-oranges comparison: > U.S. spent an average of $12,157 per student [...] Finland's education budget is €2,100 per capita [...] less than 20% of the spending!
- nelsonic 8y ago
  Thanks for the correction.
sytelus 8y ago
Great comment! There are many countries which spends more than US like Switzerland so the only conclusion one can derive is that after some amount the marginal gains in quality of education are small. However the conclusion that marginal gains actually reduces are not correct. The fact is that quality of education depends on many more things after certain minimal spend is established. Teacher training and incentives, standards, methodology etc are much more important. For example, why are we still doing passive learning in classroom where students are expected to just sit and listen as opposed to hands on project based or Montessori style learning. Think about the difference just this will make. I also think US system is fundamentally flawed because of government established monopoly. This prevents other players to come in and make improvements. Even worse, students in US is tied to a school based on house a parent can afford. Why can't a parent take education allowance from government and go to any school they prefer? This would allow competition, private entities, market economy and most importantly fast evolution by innovating on other factors.

throwaway8798 8y ago

You're conflating two different statistics: US spending per pupil is $12,300 Finland spending per pupil is $9,800 https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/pdf/coe_cmd.pdf https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/pdf/coe_cmd.pdf If you want to look at per capita spending, the article says the US spends about 668 billion, divided by a population of 321 million, you get about $2080 per capita. So if you're calculating it that way, the US actually spends _less_ per capita than Finland.

deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
rglovejoy 8y ago
> If you want to look at per capita spending, the article says the US spends about 668 billion, divided by a population of 321 million, you get about $2080 per capita. > So if you're calculating it that way, the US actually spends _less_ per capita than Finland. Nobody is calculating it that way: the US does not have 321 million schoolchildren.
- jacobolus 8y ago
  > Nobody is calculating [education budgets per capita] The top-level poster did, in a (hopefully unintentionally) grossly misleading apples-to-oranges comparison: > U.S. spent an average of $12,157 per student [...] Finland's education budget is €2,100 per capita [...] less than 20% of the spending!
nelsonic 8y ago
Thanks for the correction.

sytelus 8y ago

Great comment! There are many countries which spends more than US like Switzerland so the only conclusion one can derive is that after some amount the marginal gains in quality of education are small. However the conclusion that marginal gains actually reduces are not correct. The fact is that quality of education depends on many more things after certain minimal spend is established. Teacher training and incentives, standards, methodology etc are much more important. For example, why are we still doing passive learning in classroom where students are expected to just sit and listen as opposed to hands on project based or Montessori style learning. Think about the difference just this will make. I also think US system is fundamentally flawed because of government established monopoly. This prevents other players to come in and make improvements. Even worse, students in US is tied to a school based on house a parent can afford. Why can't a parent take education allowance from government and go to any school they prefer? This would allow competition, private entities, market economy and most importantly fast evolution by innovating on other factors.