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This stereotype of people in “flyover states” as being uneducated and dense really needs to stop. EDIT Reader heads experiencing flyover - read: "The struggle

This stereotype of people in “flyover states” as being uneducated and dense really needs to stop. EDIT Reader heads experiencing flyover - read: "The struggle to understand why sunrises happen in America's heartland"

dylan604 2y ago
Yeah, there's plenty of under educated folks on either coast too.
JumpCrisscross 2y ago
> stereotype of people in “flyover states” as being uneducated and dense really needs to stop Was going to point out that this is in Missouri, but it turns out Missouri is smack in the middle of the pack when it comes to educational attainment [1]. T he states and territories with the lowest rate of high-school diplomas are Puerto Rico, California, Texas, Mississippi and Louisiana. (Bachelor's: W. Virginia, Mississippi, Arkansas. Advanced: Puerto Rico, Mississippi, Arkansas.) [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_and_territories_by_educational_attainment#U.S._territories https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_and_territ...
- sqeaky 2y ago
  Having Lived in the Midwest and CA, I strongly suspect this is some kind of artifact of CA doing something better. Either schools in CA are harder as in teaching much more, CA is counting more kids, CA is failing kids who didn't academically succeed, or MO might not be tracking kids from certain areas, MO might be pushing kids along and passing them out when they don't know the material. It could be as simple as when schools lose track of a kid CA might default to "did not graduate" and MO defaults to "don't care not tracking". Live in each place for a week and tell me the average education level in the lower midwest is on par. I know that one person isn't a statistical sample, but it is so easy to reproduce and so many people have done it seeing the same results.
  - JumpCrisscross 2y ago
    > Having Lived in the Midwest and CA, I strongly suspect this is some kind of artifact of CA doing something better Texas and California have the highest "percentage of public school students who were English learners (ELs)" of any state or jurisdiction [1]. [1] https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator/cgf/english-learners https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator/cgf/english-learn...
dogleash 2y ago
Nobel idea, never gonna happen. Media depicting the characteristics of life in various (types of) areas of the US are all simulacra. A lot of writers have the self-awareness to know this, but delude themselves that they're able to act outside that system. However, find yourself an LA writer who's never visited anywhere not called "the $FOO core metro area," and let them tell you how they think the world works. It's like staring into the abyss.
- jmward01 2y ago
  Sounds like you have just as strong a misconception of people as the people you are trying to call out. The thing about big cities is they draw a lot of people from everywhere. The diversity of experience is high so you may be surprised about the background of the LA writer you point out. I think though that a media bias likely is a thing that causes big problems, like your LA writer comment. It is hard to get nuance in media and easy to emphasize a flashy polarizing headline or have a talking head take a single line out of context to artificially make a point. Dig a little more and you may find that LA writer discussing small town problems may have a few good points drawn from deep experience and real journalism.
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
sqeaky 2y ago
> This stereotype of people in “flyover states” as being uneducated and dense really needs to stop. I live in Nebraska. We are fucking stupid.

dylan604 2y ago

Yeah, there's plenty of under educated folks on either coast too.

JumpCrisscross 2y ago

> stereotype of people in “flyover states” as being uneducated and dense really needs to stop Was going to point out that this is in Missouri, but it turns out Missouri is smack in the middle of the pack when it comes to educational attainment [1]. T he states and territories with the lowest rate of high-school diplomas are Puerto Rico, California, Texas, Mississippi and Louisiana. (Bachelor's: W. Virginia, Mississippi, Arkansas. Advanced: Puerto Rico, Mississippi, Arkansas.) [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_and_territories_by_educational_attainment#U.S._territories https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_and_territ...

sqeaky 2y ago
Having Lived in the Midwest and CA, I strongly suspect this is some kind of artifact of CA doing something better. Either schools in CA are harder as in teaching much more, CA is counting more kids, CA is failing kids who didn't academically succeed, or MO might not be tracking kids from certain areas, MO might be pushing kids along and passing them out when they don't know the material. It could be as simple as when schools lose track of a kid CA might default to "did not graduate" and MO defaults to "don't care not tracking". Live in each place for a week and tell me the average education level in the lower midwest is on par. I know that one person isn't a statistical sample, but it is so easy to reproduce and so many people have done it seeing the same results.
- JumpCrisscross 2y ago
  > Having Lived in the Midwest and CA, I strongly suspect this is some kind of artifact of CA doing something better Texas and California have the highest "percentage of public school students who were English learners (ELs)" of any state or jurisdiction [1]. [1] https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator/cgf/english-learners https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator/cgf/english-learn...

dogleash 2y ago

Nobel idea, never gonna happen. Media depicting the characteristics of life in various (types of) areas of the US are all simulacra. A lot of writers have the self-awareness to know this, but delude themselves that they're able to act outside that system. However, find yourself an LA writer who's never visited anywhere not called "the $FOO core metro area," and let them tell you how they think the world works. It's like staring into the abyss.

jmward01 2y ago
Sounds like you have just as strong a misconception of people as the people you are trying to call out. The thing about big cities is they draw a lot of people from everywhere. The diversity of experience is high so you may be surprised about the background of the LA writer you point out. I think though that a media bias likely is a thing that causes big problems, like your LA writer comment. It is hard to get nuance in media and easy to emphasize a flashy polarizing headline or have a talking head take a single line out of context to artificially make a point. Dig a little more and you may find that LA writer discussing small town problems may have a few good points drawn from deep experience and real journalism.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]

sqeaky 2y ago

> This stereotype of people in “flyover states” as being uneducated and dense really needs to stop. I live in Nebraska. We are fucking stupid.