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I have kids in Oregon public schools. The schools themselves (in the sense of classroom education) are fine, for the most part. But education is very underfun

by ajross 1y ago

I have kids in Oregon public schools. The schools themselves (in the sense of classroom education) are fine, for the most part. But education is very underfunded (especially relative to the tax base). So kids like mine do just fine, but anyone who needs outreach or extra support tends not to get it. That hurts badly on aggregate test scores, but not so much on college acceptance performance. So it's hard to correct, politically. And no, it's not the lack of discipline. In fact my experience is that the peer culture around my kids is much, much safer and respectful than what I saw growing up. And I went to what at the time was the consensus-best public school system in the country!

megaman821 1y ago
Oregon public schools are underfunded compared to Mississippi? Some of the worst performing schools in my area have the most funding per pupil. A bucket of money doesn't solve bad systems, bad administartors, bad teachers and bad parents.
- ajross 1y ago
  > Oregon public schools are underfunded compared to Mississippi? No, but they outperform Mississippi too. The article is about the first derivative, not the signal.
- danans 1y ago
  > Some of the worst performing schools in my area have the most funding per pupil. > A bucket of money doesn't solve bad systems, bad administartors, bad teachers and bad parents. You are describing the situation often occuring in poverty, crime, and violence plagued communities (of which the US has many). In those situations schools need more funding than a more well off area because they are doing more than education: they are default community social support centers, providing food, mental health support, and sometimes even shelter for children who are facing horrible scenarios in their communities and homes. Pulling funding from those schools without addressing the societal issues will make things worse, not better. Right now, the school is the point of social service delivery.
Duwensatzaj 1y ago
> education is very underfunded Wrong. https://www.wweek.com/news/schools/2025/02/05/dramatic-increases-in-school-spending-have-not-improved-outcomes-for-oregon-students/ https://www.wweek.com/news/schools/2025/02/05/dramatic-incre... > Students in Oregon saw their reading and math scores decline over a decade when the state’s spending on schools rose by 80%, an analysis by Georgetown University shows.
- dmix 1y ago
  Another data point > For decades, taxpayer spending on K-12 education has consistently increased, outpacing inflation by 2.5 times over the past 50 years. But while most people believe that more funding should lead to better outcomes for students, the evidence indicates that higher spending alone has had little impact on improving student achievement. https://myelearningworld.com/us-educational-spending-50year-analysis/ https://myelearningworld.com/us-educational-spending-50year-...
- mrguyorama 1y ago
  Spending more on administration is not the same as spending more on education. It's the same problem as colleges right now: The superintendent making $250k a year in a school system where the teachers cannot afford to pay their rent. The average teacher salary in Oregon is $45k. It has NOT increased by 80% in that time frame. Nobody can afford to be a teacher, certainly not people with a valuable level of time, effort, productivity, and success.

by ajross 1y ago

megaman821 1y ago

Oregon public schools are underfunded compared to Mississippi? Some of the worst performing schools in my area have the most funding per pupil. A bucket of money doesn't solve bad systems, bad administartors, bad teachers and bad parents.

ajross 1y ago
> Oregon public schools are underfunded compared to Mississippi? No, but they outperform Mississippi too. The article is about the first derivative, not the signal.
danans 1y ago
> Some of the worst performing schools in my area have the most funding per pupil. > A bucket of money doesn't solve bad systems, bad administartors, bad teachers and bad parents. You are describing the situation often occuring in poverty, crime, and violence plagued communities (of which the US has many). In those situations schools need more funding than a more well off area because they are doing more than education: they are default community social support centers, providing food, mental health support, and sometimes even shelter for children who are facing horrible scenarios in their communities and homes. Pulling funding from those schools without addressing the societal issues will make things worse, not better. Right now, the school is the point of social service delivery.

Duwensatzaj 1y ago

> education is very underfunded Wrong. https://www.wweek.com/news/schools/2025/02/05/dramatic-increases-in-school-spending-have-not-improved-outcomes-for-oregon-students/ https://www.wweek.com/news/schools/2025/02/05/dramatic-incre... > Students in Oregon saw their reading and math scores decline over a decade when the state’s spending on schools rose by 80%, an analysis by Georgetown University shows.

dmix 1y ago
Another data point > For decades, taxpayer spending on K-12 education has consistently increased, outpacing inflation by 2.5 times over the past 50 years. But while most people believe that more funding should lead to better outcomes for students, the evidence indicates that higher spending alone has had little impact on improving student achievement. https://myelearningworld.com/us-educational-spending-50year-analysis/ https://myelearningworld.com/us-educational-spending-50year-...
mrguyorama 1y ago
Spending more on administration is not the same as spending more on education. It's the same problem as colleges right now: The superintendent making $250k a year in a school system where the teachers cannot afford to pay their rent. The average teacher salary in Oregon is $45k. It has NOT increased by 80% in that time frame. Nobody can afford to be a teacher, certainly not people with a valuable level of time, effort, productivity, and success.