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A national curriculum is a deeply suspicious idea. The US has an insane range of socioeconomic, and thus educational, environments, ranging from high-performing

A national curriculum is a deeply suspicious idea. The US has an insane range of socioeconomic, and thus educational, environments, ranging from high-performing states like Massachusetts, to deeply alarmingly under-performing states like West Virginia. Any standard that could be established would at best suffer from being either unreachable with the resources available on the low end, or a pointless bureaucratic headache for states that would completely eclipse it. At worst, it would become a cudgel to be used by federal governments sympathetic to the over-represented and under-educated states against the ones that actually provide value to the nation and an education to their residents.

anarticle 8mo ago
It is entirely possible that we cannot do it with the current setup. Resourcing of public schools is largely shit across the various states, I went to NJ public schools which are consistently second or third in the nation. I live in Philadelphia whose public schools are notoriously bad. The rise of charters has probably hurt areas with marginal public schooling, but it does give parents an option. I don't think there's anything suspicious or sinister about it, considering how administrations appear to be running absolutely out of control in schools now which seems pretty bad. You are likely right about the federal govt getting this wrong and screwing up the current good thing which is public schools in areas that work :D. I would counter with things like, calculus is not a regional bias. If we expect to compete internationally we have to raise the bar up, not create a generation of people who can't do fractions. I'll def have to think about how the fed would misuse this. Thanks for the insight. My bias: I am a product of DoDDS schools, which is as close to a national curriculum as we've ever had and the numbers seem to be off the charts: https://archive.is/OpZnr https://archive.is/OpZnr For me, my parents are both from poor backgrounds. My dad joined the Marines and apparently got me access to the best academy in the USA, the DoDDS System. I am the only person in my family to ever make more than 100k or have degrees. There's also the little unspoken part of this article that if your kid misbehaves bad enough it becomes your parent's problem via their commanding officer. It is entirely possible I'm some kind of outlier. (I doubt it.)
- OkayPhysicist 8mo ago
  I doubt there are any states that don't currently have fractions in their curricula. The problem isn't standards, it's that large swathes of the country simply don't care about educating their children, as indicated at a societal level by where tax revenue goes, and at the individual level by parental involvement in children's education. How to solve that short of charging people with neglect, I've got no idea.

anarticle 8mo ago

It is entirely possible that we cannot do it with the current setup. Resourcing of public schools is largely shit across the various states, I went to NJ public schools which are consistently second or third in the nation. I live in Philadelphia whose public schools are notoriously bad. The rise of charters has probably hurt areas with marginal public schooling, but it does give parents an option. I don't think there's anything suspicious or sinister about it, considering how administrations appear to be running absolutely out of control in schools now which seems pretty bad. You are likely right about the federal govt getting this wrong and screwing up the current good thing which is public schools in areas that work :D. I would counter with things like, calculus is not a regional bias. If we expect to compete internationally we have to raise the bar up, not create a generation of people who can't do fractions. I'll def have to think about how the fed would misuse this. Thanks for the insight. My bias: I am a product of DoDDS schools, which is as close to a national curriculum as we've ever had and the numbers seem to be off the charts: https://archive.is/OpZnr https://archive.is/OpZnr For me, my parents are both from poor backgrounds. My dad joined the Marines and apparently got me access to the best academy in the USA, the DoDDS System. I am the only person in my family to ever make more than 100k or have degrees. There's also the little unspoken part of this article that if your kid misbehaves bad enough it becomes your parent's problem via their commanding officer. It is entirely possible I'm some kind of outlier. (I doubt it.)

OkayPhysicist 8mo ago
I doubt there are any states that don't currently have fractions in their curricula. The problem isn't standards, it's that large swathes of the country simply don't care about educating their children, as indicated at a societal level by where tax revenue goes, and at the individual level by parental involvement in children's education. How to solve that short of charging people with neglect, I've got no idea.