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The US does great on educating the kids it cares about. The many kids that are written off (poor and/or non-white usually) drag down the average. If we spent on

The US does great on educating the kids it cares about. The many kids that are written off (poor and/or non-white usually) drag down the average. If we spent on family stability instead of prisons, we'd turn things around quickly, but that might benefit the "wrong" people.

deleted 6y ago
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nostromo 6y ago
> non-white usually This just isn't correct. Many majority non-white school districts are very well funded -- cities like Chicago or Washington or LA. It's simply not an issue of lack of funds.
- alistairSH 6y ago
  Correct. We fund the "wrong" things when it comes to education. Simply pumping more money into poorly performing school districts isn't a solution, but we continue to do so. Some of that money might be better spent on social services to help ensure stable households and early education for the kids in those areas. Or higher minimum wages to help ensure the parents don't need to work 12 hours/day to make ends meet. Etc. And neither side of the political aisle can come to a consensus on what to change, so here we are. Le Sigh.
  - nostromo 6y ago
    School choice would help to solve this by putting pressure on school systems to improve or lose students (and dollars) to better schools.
    - alistairSH 6y ago
      Except schools largely aren’t failing because the school itself is terrible, they’re failing because the students have massive disadvantages. Vouchers might allow a few exceptional students to leave but strands the average students. And those exceptional students still need to find transport to the school across town. It also assumes a better school actually exists. Society would be better off ensuring equal opportunity at all ages, stable households, good healthcare (including food) instead of blowing up the system to the advantage of a small number of people.
- pnutjam 6y ago
  I listened to a recent podcast that went into excruciating detail about how NY basically shunted white students into "gifted" programs and stacked black and Puerto Rican students in overcrowded schools that had to rotate classes at lunch. Kids basically got half a days education. This is not an isolated incident, just forgotten. Well funded districts are often not spending on every child.
hyperdimension 6y ago
This is an extremely depressing statistic, but my mother has been a teacher for 10+ years. Apparently they forecast future prison populations by...3rd grade standardized test scores :(

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

nostromo 6y ago

> non-white usually This just isn't correct. Many majority non-white school districts are very well funded -- cities like Chicago or Washington or LA. It's simply not an issue of lack of funds.

alistairSH 6y ago
Correct. We fund the "wrong" things when it comes to education. Simply pumping more money into poorly performing school districts isn't a solution, but we continue to do so. Some of that money might be better spent on social services to help ensure stable households and early education for the kids in those areas. Or higher minimum wages to help ensure the parents don't need to work 12 hours/day to make ends meet. Etc. And neither side of the political aisle can come to a consensus on what to change, so here we are. Le Sigh.
- nostromo 6y ago
  School choice would help to solve this by putting pressure on school systems to improve or lose students (and dollars) to better schools.
  - alistairSH 6y ago
    Except schools largely aren’t failing because the school itself is terrible, they’re failing because the students have massive disadvantages. Vouchers might allow a few exceptional students to leave but strands the average students. And those exceptional students still need to find transport to the school across town. It also assumes a better school actually exists. Society would be better off ensuring equal opportunity at all ages, stable households, good healthcare (including food) instead of blowing up the system to the advantage of a small number of people.
pnutjam 6y ago
I listened to a recent podcast that went into excruciating detail about how NY basically shunted white students into "gifted" programs and stacked black and Puerto Rican students in overcrowded schools that had to rotate classes at lunch. Kids basically got half a days education. This is not an isolated incident, just forgotten. Well funded districts are often not spending on every child.

hyperdimension 6y ago

This is an extremely depressing statistic, but my mother has been a teacher for 10+ years. Apparently they forecast future prison populations by...3rd grade standardized test scores :(