3 ms·

I do think the expectations now are a bit different than what you were used to-- at least in higher performing schools. Molar mass also was a middle school con

• WalterBright 6y ago
  That would imply that high school graduates are better educated than in my day. I find that hard to believe, as standardized test scores haven't improved since what, 1970? But that's not really my complaint about public schools. My complaint is they don't teach accounting or how business works. These two are fundamental to participating in a free market economy. It's clear to me from reading comments on newspaper articles that very, very few people understand what a profit is or how business actually works. Ignorance of how basic finance works dooms a lot of people being a lot poorer than they would otherwise be. Teaching some basics here would be a great anti-poverty program - and a very cost-effective one.
  • mlyle 6y ago
    > That would imply that high school graduates are better educated than in my day. I find that hard to believe, as standardized test scores haven't improved since what, 1970? Ages 9/13 on standardized tests of reading/arithmetic are improved, but age 17 has been fairly stagnant. It is somewhat confounded, though, because more people are still in school and tested at age 17 than before-- graduation rates are about 5% higher. And 37% of students are taking at least one AP class which covers subject matter that would previously be taught in college. Scope and pace of education is increasing, but as your question points out-- it's not clear whether it's really resulting in better outcomes. > But that's not really my complaint about public schools. My complaint is they don't teach accounting or how business works. Yup, a whole lot of this is in AP Microeconomics, which is a bit of a rare course to be offered. (I've already decided what I'm teaching for 2021-2022, but maybe I should take this on for 2022-2023). A lot of the stuff kind of shows up in algebra-- somewhere between algebra I and algebra II depending upon program. Lots of math problems of quadratic optimization where you're given inequalities describing units / raw materials / whatever and a polynomial describing income and an expression describing costs and have to find the maximum profit point, etc, along with analysis of simple and compound interest. But understanding how to do these problems and really understanding the concepts are different matters. > clear to me from reading comments on newspaper articles Don't judge humankind from what you read on newspaper articles! :D
    • WalterBright 6y ago
      The most common confusion I see is people conflating revenue with profits with assets. For example, they'll complain that a company worth $$$$ only pays $ in income taxes. Many people labor under the impression that if a company charges $5 for X, that's $5 in profit. Anyhow, the two most valuable classes I took outside of college was a 2 week course in touch typing, and a 2 week course in basic accounting. The accounting class was taught by a guy who said he used to be the the salesman at a car dealership. We got to talking, and he said the biggest problem customers had was failing to understand the finance part of the deal. The wealth of the customer was directly related to his understanding of finance. The poorer customers always wanted the worst deals. He'd try to explain to them why those were poor options, and their reaction was always suspicion that he was trying to scam them. By the way, I've had car dealers and bankers try to slip crap by me on the terms. My dad once moved to a new town to take a job, and was negotiating mortgage terms with the local bank. The bank manager went on and on feeding my dad crap, and my dad would just nod. Finally, the manager asked him what his new job was, and my dad relied "head of the finance department at the college." He told me the manager tried to crawl under the table. :-)
      • mlyle 6y ago
        > The most common confusion I see is people conflating revenue with profits with assets. For example, they'll complain that a company worth $$$$ only pays $ in income taxes I agree they get conflated or the articles pick the least favorable comparison. But it's not like this is absolutely broken --- the market values company X (allegedly unprofitable) at $10B but they pay effectively no tax --- could be a legitimate complaint. And people who are upset about things often will make arguments that, when calm, they might know are not strictly true or fair. Some might even argue that the value of government services they receive are proportional to their asset value, not their income. > The accounting class was taught by a guy who said he used to be the the salesman at a car dealership. We got to talking, and he said the biggest problem customers had was failing to understand the finance part of the deal. The wealth of the customer was directly related to his understanding of finance. You have no idea how much trouble I've had just getting dealerships to take a check, because they want to play these games. > Finally, the manager asked him what his new job was, and my dad relied "head of the finance department at the college." LOL.