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It’s not a shame. At a time in this country it was expected that citizens of means stepped into the gaps that government either couldn’t go into or couldn’t do

It’s not a shame. At a time in this country it was expected that citizens of means stepped into the gaps that government either couldn’t go into or couldn’t do well, and some of our best institutions come from this philanthropy. I applaud Lebron.

TaylorAlexander 7y ago
School is not supposed to be funded by philanthropy in America.
- spaginal 7y ago
  I would argue differently. Government has shown time and again that it’s one size fits all approach towards schooling isn’t working. Combine their poor execution, purposeful lack of civics training, with special interests and rent seeking, for example, school textbooks. We are leaving way too many kids behind as it is. It’s turned into government day care. I would argue school is where citizens need to have the greatest choice, the most impact, and get the most involved with their own dollars. If our future is in education, it needs to be done differently than it is now.
  - flukus 7y ago
    > Government has shown time and again that it’s one size fits all approach towards schooling isn’t working. Combine their poor execution, purposeful lack of civics training, with special interests and rent seeking, for example, school textbooks. Government has not shown that at all, look around the world an you'll find plenty of examples of government providing quality education to all.
    - adventured 7y ago
      > look around the world an you'll find plenty of examples of government providing quality education to all. 195 countries, less than a dozen countries with non-small size populations are doing a good job at all on education. The rest - where's the proof? Where are the results? Look at the development situations in Italy, Greece, Turkey, Russia, Mexico, Brazil, Indonesia, Pakistan, China, Venezuela and so on. Where's this overwhelming outcome proof that government education particularly works so well? China still has half a billion people with the equivalent of a fifth grade education or less. They've had an all-powerful government for over half a century. The vast majority of the world still struggles with basic economic development, basic government functions, extreme corruption, basic human rights and inconsistently available utilities. When you strip out the tiny nations like Luxembourg, Iceland, Qatar, Ireland, Finland, Norway, Singapore, Cyprus, Malta, Kuwait, etc. - you have about two dozen nations above the global average GDP per capita level (a mere $10k). That's how piss poor the world's situation actually still is on education results. Take a look at the development index on the world, then drop out the tiny nations. Where are all the large nation success stories on governments doing such a great job? There are exceptionally few anywhere to be found. It's all tiny nations, and it's obvious why: it's because the people are closer to their government in those nations. It's dramatically easier to hold your government accountable, and to make government very personal, when your nation has 500k or 5m people, versus 50m+. You can count the larger nations that do education really well on just two hands.
      - TaylorAlexander 7y ago
        What is public education like in France, Germany, or the UK? They all have populations greater than 66m. At least Germany (83m) I’ve heard good things about their educational system. Why is it so bad in the US?
    - JumpCrisscross 7y ago
      > look around the world an you'll find plenty of examples of government providing quality education to all Frankly, I look around the world and find a mix of authoritarian regimes and countries whose capitals are burning down in riots. A minority balance the need for broadness with the need for experimentation (and repelling political meddling.) There are merits to preventing government from monopolising social services.

TaylorAlexander 7y ago

School is not supposed to be funded by philanthropy in America.

spaginal 7y ago
I would argue differently. Government has shown time and again that it’s one size fits all approach towards schooling isn’t working. Combine their poor execution, purposeful lack of civics training, with special interests and rent seeking, for example, school textbooks. We are leaving way too many kids behind as it is. It’s turned into government day care. I would argue school is where citizens need to have the greatest choice, the most impact, and get the most involved with their own dollars. If our future is in education, it needs to be done differently than it is now.
- flukus 7y ago
  > Government has shown time and again that it’s one size fits all approach towards schooling isn’t working. Combine their poor execution, purposeful lack of civics training, with special interests and rent seeking, for example, school textbooks. Government has not shown that at all, look around the world an you'll find plenty of examples of government providing quality education to all.
  - adventured 7y ago
    > look around the world an you'll find plenty of examples of government providing quality education to all. 195 countries, less than a dozen countries with non-small size populations are doing a good job at all on education. The rest - where's the proof? Where are the results? Look at the development situations in Italy, Greece, Turkey, Russia, Mexico, Brazil, Indonesia, Pakistan, China, Venezuela and so on. Where's this overwhelming outcome proof that government education particularly works so well? China still has half a billion people with the equivalent of a fifth grade education or less. They've had an all-powerful government for over half a century. The vast majority of the world still struggles with basic economic development, basic government functions, extreme corruption, basic human rights and inconsistently available utilities. When you strip out the tiny nations like Luxembourg, Iceland, Qatar, Ireland, Finland, Norway, Singapore, Cyprus, Malta, Kuwait, etc. - you have about two dozen nations above the global average GDP per capita level (a mere $10k). That's how piss poor the world's situation actually still is on education results. Take a look at the development index on the world, then drop out the tiny nations. Where are all the large nation success stories on governments doing such a great job? There are exceptionally few anywhere to be found. It's all tiny nations, and it's obvious why: it's because the people are closer to their government in those nations. It's dramatically easier to hold your government accountable, and to make government very personal, when your nation has 500k or 5m people, versus 50m+. You can count the larger nations that do education really well on just two hands.
    - TaylorAlexander 7y ago
      What is public education like in France, Germany, or the UK? They all have populations greater than 66m. At least Germany (83m) I’ve heard good things about their educational system. Why is it so bad in the US?
  - JumpCrisscross 7y ago
    > look around the world an you'll find plenty of examples of government providing quality education to all Frankly, I look around the world and find a mix of authoritarian regimes and countries whose capitals are burning down in riots. A minority balance the need for broadness with the need for experimentation (and repelling political meddling.) There are merits to preventing government from monopolising social services.