5 ms·

Steep enrollment declines in public education in major US cities

48 points by roody15 3y ago

starbase 3y ago
I spent 13 years in public schools and was one of the better students. I felt then as I do a now a quarter century later: the majority of my time there was wasted. The week of my 18th birthday and a few days before graduation, I left. On principle.
- 7e 3y ago
  You left so close to the end of classes that you were still guaranteed to graduate? That’s a pretty hollow statement. If anything, it looks like a case of senioritis.
  - starbase 3y ago
    Did not graduate.
- HWR_14 3y ago
  What principle was that?
- polishdude20 3y ago
  Doesn't almost everyone spend 12-13 years in public schools?
  - starbase 3y ago
    6-26% drop out, depending where you live 6-7% homeschool 10% attend private school
0xy 3y ago
This is, of course, amazing news. Public schools in the US have been lethargically churning out rapidly declining outcomes for decades, as well as attacking gifted students in the name of equity & inclusion. 2020 threw gas on the fire of homeschooling numbers, and I can't wait to see what they are like now (the 2023 survey that will reveal them is currently running). Homeschooling produces better outcomes, even when you include unschooled students and religious curriculum. Literally, a random person off the street can do better at teaching a child 1:1 than a teacher in a classroom of 25 students where excellence is punished severely. That's not even considering the fact that teachers unions routinely protect sexual predators, and that teachers are statistically more likely to abuse children than priests. [1] Teachers unions were also the most vocal proponents of school lockdowns, which irreparably damaged millions of students. School was a massive waste of time for me and most people I know. It's also the only place I've ever experienced physical violence. They're just a mess. [1] https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10000872396390443437504577547313612049308 https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10000872396390443437504577547...
- Beaver117 3y ago
  Although homeschooling may help with academics, what about socializing? Traditional schools are by far the better option for making friends as a kid
  - rayiner 3y ago
    “Socializing” children in schools is an oxymoron. School is where children are prevented from becoming socialized by being placed into an age-segregated situation with only one authority figure present. It’s only a slight improvement on Lord of the Flies.
    - woodruffw 3y ago
      This doesn't make a lot of sense: classrooms are full of other children, who socialize with each other. Classrooms empty into lunchrooms and schoolyards, which are not segregated by year.
      - bitlax 3y ago
        > classrooms are full of other children of the same age. > Classrooms empty into lunchrooms and schoolyards, which are not segregated by year. In my experience, in elementary school our class had assigned tables for lunch and a specific time when we had the playground and blacktop. YMMV. But at any rate a half hour in the cafeteria and a half hour in the yard aren't the best places a child could learn to interact with other children; the characteristics of these activities are constrained by the form of the institution.
        woodruffw 3y ago
        My schools (all of them) had open seating and free-for-alls in their open areas; at my high school, they didn’t even bother trying to keep us inside the grounds (which meant that we could, and did, go socialize with the neighborhood.) This is in a school system that contains roughly a million students, and (AFAIK) didn’t impose significant differences between individual schools. I can’t imagine assigned seating working very well, except for at a very small school in a small district. Yours might not be a representative case.
blt 3y ago
"generous labor contracts"?
tkngctrl 3y ago
[dead]

48 points by roody15 3y ago

I spent 13 years in public schools and was one of the better students. I felt then as I do a now a quarter century later: the majority of my time there was wasted. The week of my 18th birthday and a few days before graduation, I left. On principle.

7e 3y ago
You left so close to the end of classes that you were still guaranteed to graduate? That’s a pretty hollow statement. If anything, it looks like a case of senioritis.
- starbase 3y ago
  Did not graduate.
HWR_14 3y ago
What principle was that?
polishdude20 3y ago
Doesn't almost everyone spend 12-13 years in public schools?
- starbase 3y ago
  6-26% drop out, depending where you live 6-7% homeschool 10% attend private school

0xy 3y ago

This is, of course, amazing news. Public schools in the US have been lethargically churning out rapidly declining outcomes for decades, as well as attacking gifted students in the name of equity & inclusion. 2020 threw gas on the fire of homeschooling numbers, and I can't wait to see what they are like now (the 2023 survey that will reveal them is currently running). Homeschooling produces better outcomes, even when you include unschooled students and religious curriculum. Literally, a random person off the street can do better at teaching a child 1:1 than a teacher in a classroom of 25 students where excellence is punished severely. That's not even considering the fact that teachers unions routinely protect sexual predators, and that teachers are statistically more likely to abuse children than priests. [1] Teachers unions were also the most vocal proponents of school lockdowns, which irreparably damaged millions of students. School was a massive waste of time for me and most people I know. It's also the only place I've ever experienced physical violence. They're just a mess. [1] https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10000872396390443437504577547313612049308 https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10000872396390443437504577547...

Beaver117 3y ago
Although homeschooling may help with academics, what about socializing? Traditional schools are by far the better option for making friends as a kid
- rayiner 3y ago
  “Socializing” children in schools is an oxymoron. School is where children are prevented from becoming socialized by being placed into an age-segregated situation with only one authority figure present. It’s only a slight improvement on Lord of the Flies.
  - woodruffw 3y ago
    This doesn't make a lot of sense: classrooms are full of other children, who socialize with each other. Classrooms empty into lunchrooms and schoolyards, which are not segregated by year.
    - bitlax 3y ago
      > classrooms are full of other children of the same age. > Classrooms empty into lunchrooms and schoolyards, which are not segregated by year. In my experience, in elementary school our class had assigned tables for lunch and a specific time when we had the playground and blacktop. YMMV. But at any rate a half hour in the cafeteria and a half hour in the yard aren't the best places a child could learn to interact with other children; the characteristics of these activities are constrained by the form of the institution.
      - woodruffw 3y ago
        My schools (all of them) had open seating and free-for-alls in their open areas; at my high school, they didn’t even bother trying to keep us inside the grounds (which meant that we could, and did, go socialize with the neighborhood.) This is in a school system that contains roughly a million students, and (AFAIK) didn’t impose significant differences between individual schools. I can’t imagine assigned seating working very well, except for at a very small school in a small district. Yours might not be a representative case.

blt 3y ago

"generous labor contracts"?

tkngctrl 3y ago

[dead]