3 ms·
Look at those contemptible Republican idiots in the shitty flyover states, with their "kids who can do math" and such.
by jff 12y ago
Look at those contemptible Republican idiots in the shitty flyover states, with their "kids who can do math" and such.
- bilbo0s 12y ago??? You lost me on that one. This really isn't about politics... since both Democrat and Republican states seem pretty much bad. I think this may be more indicative of a reticence, on a societal level, to value education.
- jff 12y agoOh, I was just talking about how much contempt drips from the voice of a coastal city resident when they talk about those backward states in the midwest, but then we see Montana, North & South Dakota, Minnesota, and Wisconsin all in the top 10. Wyoming and Kansas doing pretty good, etc. It wasn't supposed to be really truly about Democrats or Republicans, I mean shit look at the South, I was mostly mocking the kind of attitudes you'll find out here in CA regarding those who live in say North Dakota.
- sremani 12y agoTexas - 40.3 California - 25.3 That does not fit into any political narrative.
- jff 12y agoWell, it fits my personal narrative that I should move out of California... :)
- bzbarsky 12y agoIndeed. Texas does better than California on average and _way_ better for less-advantaged students, while spending less money per student on its schools (though it's entirely possible that in COLA-adjusted terms Texas is spending more; it's hard to tell).
- tomsthumb 12y agoWhat would be the signifigance of the COLA-adjusted terms?
- bzbarsky 12y agoI would assume that all else being equal (a huge assumption there!) paying teachers the same thing in San Francisco and in Houston would give you teachers of worse caliber in San Francisco. That's because the cost of living and salaries in general are lower in Houston, so for the same amount of money you can hire more qualified people who have more options on the job market.
- ausjke 12y agodoes it have anything to do with: 1. CA is a more of socialized state 2. CA has more diverse population, to get it straight, more Hispanic and blacks? or something else?
- bzbarsky 12y agoI can't speak to #1, but as for #2 Texas's educational system outperforms California's when you look specifically at Blacks, Hispanics, and poor people. See for example http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/naepdata/report.aspx?app=NDE&p=2-MAT-2-20133%2c20113%2c20093%2c20073%2c20053%2c20033%2c20003%2c20002%2c19963%2c19962%2c19922%2c19902-MRPCM-SDRACE-NP%2cAL%2cAK%2cAZ%2cAR%2cCA%2cCO%2cCT%2cDE%2cDC%2cFL%2cGA%2cHI%2cID%2cIL%2cIN%2cIA%2cKS%2cKY%2cLA%2cME%2cMD%2cMA%2cMI%2cMN%2cMS%2cMO%2cMT%2cNE%2cNV%2cNH%2cNJ%2cNM%2cNY%2cNC%2cND%2cOH%2cOK%2cOR%2cPA%2cRI%2cSC%2cSD%2cTN%2cTX%2cUT%2cVT%2cVA%2cWA%2cWV%2cWI%2cWY%2cDS-MN_MN-Y_J-0-0-37 http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/naepdata/report.aspx?ap... which is the 8th grade math score on NAEP by ethnicity. California scores 258 for blacks and 263 for Hispanics (and 291 for whites). Texas scores 273 for blacks, 281 for Hispanics, 300 for whites. Similarly, if you look at the scores for students eligible for free or reduced price lunches, California is at 264 and Texas is at 279. Overall, the demographics of the two states are not that different; see http://nationsreportcard.gov/reading_math_2013/#/comparison-graphs?st0=CA&st1=TX http://nationsreportcard.gov/reading_math_2013/#/comparison-... near the bottom. The big difference is that California has a lot more Asians and Texas has a lot more blacks. But even the fact that Asians on average score higher than blacks on these tests is not enough to overcome the fact that on an race group by race basis Texas scores so much better than California. Theories as to why abound; everyone has their favorite theory that matches their politics, which makes me slightly doubt all of them. I'd really like to know what's going on there, though, because it seems like Texas schools are consistently doing something less wrong than California ones...