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[Durien]

So this came across my feed today about the state of education in Washington State and how it reflects nationally. If, nationally, kids are not proficient in the basics of math and reading, how do they progress to the next grade?

72% of WA eighth graders not proficient in math, report shows • Washington State Standard

National math and reading test scores suggest Washington K-12 students failed to meet basic proficiency standards in recent years.

washingtonstatestandard.com

Things that make you go hmmm. An eye opening moment for me is the contrast in education of sending my son to private school.until 6th grade and my daughter to public (had no choice, got laid off and couldn't afford it). The difference in academic ability is astounding...

 

[HL3.exe]

I was a kid with dyslexia, dyscalculia + ADD, coming from a low income family. Pretty much failed all the classes and the education system didn't kno what to do with me.

Now i'm a film director working in the high-end tv commercials, and doing a syndicated television show in Europe.

 

[Jinzo Prime]

I was a kid with dyslexia, dyscalcu+ ADD, coming from a low income family. Pretty much failed all the classes and the education system didn't kno what to do with me.

Now i'm a film director working in the high-end tv commercials, and doing a syndicated television show in Europe.

Are you from Europe or the US? Curious about the differences between school systems.

 

[HL3.exe]

Are you from Europe or the US? Curious about the differences between school systems.

Europe, the Netherlands to be more precise. But the schooling system can be broken here as well, because of the lack of proper funding.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

So this came across my feed today about the state of education in Washington State and how it reflects nationally. If, nationally, kids are not proficient in the basics of math and reading, how do they progress to the next grade?

72% of WA eighth graders not proficient in math, report shows • Washington State Standard

National math and reading test scores suggest Washington K-12 students failed to meet basic proficiency standards in recent years.

washingtonstatestandard.com

Things that make you go hmmm. An eye opening moment for me is the contrast in education of sending my son to private school.until 6th grade and my daughter to public (had no choice, got laid off and couldn't afford it). The difference in academic ability is astounding...

What is the definition of "being proficient"? Can we see some examples? One time decades ago I had to take a GRE test - I never say anything more stupid than the Written section. FYI my TOEFL score at that time was 117.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

One thing I found very interesting in the article:

Blanford also flagged the number of kids who aren’t in an early learning setting. From 2018 to 2022, 57% of Washington kids ages 3 to 4 were not in school. There’s a “tight correlation between involvement in early learning and K-12 success,” Blanford said.

In France school is obligatory from the age of 3. Also all of our kids very in a nursery. The activities they do and how they develop - not a single SAHM can every replicate it.

 

[poppabk]

So this came across my feed today about the state of education in Washington State and how it reflects nationally. If, nationally, kids are not proficient in the basics of math and reading, how do they progress to the next grade?

72% of WA eighth graders not proficient in math, report shows • Washington State Standard

National math and reading test scores suggest Washington K-12 students failed to meet basic proficiency standards in recent years.

washingtonstatestandard.com

Things that make you go hmmm. An eye opening moment for me is the contrast in education of sending my son to private school.until 6th grade and my daughter to public (had no choice, got laid off and couldn't afford it). The difference in academic ability is astounding...

Worth noting that this the assessment is 'proficient in' not 'proficient in the basics of' and that the 2022 data is better than 2000.

 

[AJUMP23]

Many teachers focus on activism and not education. My wife is a teacher and she has seen a major change in parents too, any issue with the child is the teachers fault, or the teacher is racist or the teacher favors other kids. No one takes accountability. I even find myself at times being lazy at home as a parent with my kids and making them read and work.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

I have no proof, but just going in what I see. But all I know is kids seem dumber, content is dumbed down, and schools are wasting their time on non core content. This is from Canada. Ontario also did that thing maybe 20 years ago where a kid can’t flunk grade school up to 8th grade as long as the parents say make their kid go to the next grade. So a kid can literally not show up and get Fs and still pass.

When I did grade school in the 80s in a normal public school of locals, some waves of immigrants (that’s when you got some Sri Lankans coming over, and the start of tons of Indian people), and a mix of lower income and upper middle class fams. No ivy walled mansions in my district.

Kids all seemed to do their best. Ya there were some who didn’t do great, and I remember some of the Sri Lankans struggling due to language but as a whole kids listened, did their best and I got zero sense of teachers all freaked out getting burnt out. And we had zero political topics. Just standard core topics. The biggest eye opener was sex Ed class in grade 6 and some women came to class to teach us stuff with felt pad boards pinning up tits and cocks and everyone laughed.

A different world now. Schools have no balls to reign in kids, a lot of kids don’t give a shit, and parents seem to treat schools like glorified babysitting facilities.

 

[yet_another_alt]

It's cellphones. Public school teachers don't really have the authority to confiscate property.

 

[poppabk]

Many teachers focus on activism and not education. My wife is a teacher and she has seen a major change in parents too, any issue with the child is the teachers fault, or the teacher is racist or the teacher favors other kids. No one takes accountability. I even find myself at times being lazy at home as a parent with my kids and making them read and work.

I doubt most teachers have the time or energy to bother with activism, it's a brutal job and my hat goes off to anyone who manages to stick it out never mind do it well.
I'm definitely a lazy parent quite often, but I am still more involved in my kids education than my parents ever were in mine and my parents were good parents for that time.
I will say that parents have probably definitely become more assholish to teachers. We requested a meeting to discuss some issues one of my kids was having and you could just feel a sense of relief and also almost a sense of bewilderment when we recognized that the problem was with my kid and not them and that we wanted to work with them to solve the issues. Like they had prepped to be attacked and go on the defensive.

 

[Durien]

One of the things about my daughter's school is they don't want to give homework because they want the kids to have a school/life balance. If the kids are having problems, send home homework. Maybe the parents can explain in a different way so that they'll understand it better.
I think parents' involvement is super important and parents need to understand school is not a babysitters club. I feel bad for teachers nowadays who have to put up with the Karen's of the world and I wonder if this has an impact on how the grade because they don't want to deal with the complaining. I wonder how many parents who complain to the teachers pay attention to how their kids are doing and help their kids at home.

Lol although I do understand sometimes the parents can't help. My son had problems with calculus this year and asked me for help. I hadn't used calculus since high school and had no idea but I did direct him to some youtubers I used for help with statistics. He goes, you don't know how to do this? I replied with, I was in IT, I never needed to find derivatives or trajectories of anything.

 

[BlackTron]

I was lucky to go to a really good public school in a nice area when I grew up. In fact, I was oblivious at the time but it received Blue Ribbon award around 4th grade. All I was worried about was going home and playing Super Nintendo, so I didn't realize how much dumbification was going on in the rest of America, or how parents might typically need to pay a lot of money to have a school at that standard, which I thought was basic.

I took for granted for an ETERNITY that all schools were similar and taught kids the same things, at the same level. It blew my mind that not only was I wrong, but these days they also teach kids things in school that are the polar opposite of what I was taught. Gotta admit, I was kinda in a bubble.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

I replied with, I was in IT, I never needed to find derivatives or trajectories of anything.

Derivative of x^2 + 3x + 5 = 2X + 3

Spoiler

I never needed that in my life, not even a single time.

 

[West Texas CEO]

Technology has made the youth dumber.

Why use maths when I can Google the answer?

 

[Mossybrew]

School has always been kind of a joke. A way to keep kids busy while mom & dad are at work. I'm glad my kids are past all that crap.

 

[BlackTron]

Technology has made the youth dumber.

Why use maths when I can Google the answer?

I agree tech has made us dumber but not in math. We've always had calculators.

Google answers instead of do research at the library maybe

Edit: Though sure tech can indirectly be making people bad at math because they have no patience for it in a world of FB, YT and Tiktok

 

[DeafTourette]

So this came across my feed today about the state of education in Washington State and how it reflects nationally. If, nationally, kids are not proficient in the basics of math and reading, how do they progress to the next grade?

72% of WA eighth graders not proficient in math, report shows • Washington State Standard

National math and reading test scores suggest Washington K-12 students failed to meet basic proficiency standards in recent years.

washingtonstatestandard.com

Things that make you go hmmm. An eye opening moment for me is the contrast in education of sending my son to private school.until 6th grade and my daughter to public (had no choice, got laid off and couldn't afford it). The difference in academic ability is astounding...

You kinda answered your own question... At the end...

Private schools have MONEY! Not just from the parents but also endowments and big money fundraisers. And public schools vary region to area to neighborhood. One PS in a city could have barely functioning computers, dilapidated water fountains, old and out of date books... While another PS in a more affluent area could have the best of everything the poorer school has PLUS extras like drama classes, volleyball, etc. The more affluent the school, the better the outcome for the students.

 

[Soltype]

I work in the school system and it's worse than people imagine. We were limping before covid, and covid literally killed what little was left.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

People got to remember that culture and dumbassery plays a part.

Check out any global schooling rankings and Asian country students always do the best. And let’s face it, it’s not like every Asian person is rich. I wouldn’t be surprised if the avg poor Mongolian kid gets better marks than a western kid.

So it goes to show you don’t need ivy walled schools to do well in reading and math. You just need an environment and culture where kids, teachers and parents don’t collectively act like morons.

 

[AJUMP23]

Derivative of x^2 + 3x + 5 = 2X + 3

Spoiler

I never needed that in my life, not even a single time.

It is not that you needed to use it regularly, and more practical skills should be taught. But understanding the ideas and concepts help you think more broadly about how to solve and understand complex problems.

 

[jshackles]

Teachers jobs in the US now are just babysitters. I have a lot of teachers in my family, some of them that have been teaching for over 30 years. They aren't allowed to give failing grades, or the schools lose their funding - so it's dictated to them that every student pass (at a minimum). If they hand out Cs and Ds, they usually have to be ready to justify that to school administrators and angry parents. After a while, it becomes totally not worth fighting over - so the "good" kids (the ones that behave well and don't give you problems) get As, and the "bad" kids (the ones that disrupt class and are generally a problem) get Bs. Everyone passes, and your next batch of students comes in the following year. Rinse and repeat.

The only kids who are actually learning anything at all in school are the ones who are self-motivated. Not surprised by the 72% number in the OP.

I had one close female family member who retired from teaching last year, because they had a girl in their class who made an accusation that they were touched inappropriately in the bathroom by my family member. Of course, it was a lie - but the school suspended them while the teacher's union did nothing. Parents pressed charges. Came out in court that the kid had made the whole thing up. At the end of the Summer vacation, the school wanted them to sign another year teaching contract to fill quotas, didn't even apologize. That's the real state of the education system in America right now.

 

[AJUMP23]

jshackles Some of what you say is true, but my wife does far more than babysit. Every student is required to make improvements for standards. Her school is in an upper middle class area, but they bring in kids from lower income areas as well. Her school is one of the top 5 in the state. There are kids with more active parents that push them, and there are kids with parents that do what they need to, and there are kids with parents that do little to nothing. Most problems with kids in school are a myriad of things, sometimes it is bad teachers, sometimes it is bad parents. There is no one solution.

 

[Seraphym]

UK based teacher here. I taught from 8 to 15 year olds.
Now in charge of 4 to 12 year olds. Member of Senior Leadership Team.
Attendance is a massive impact on attainment but the powers are limited to non existent. Some parents just don't see the value in any education.
We are a no homework school, those that need to do it don't or won't and those that do didn't need to. If that makes sense?
There was limited talk by our government of adjusting the holiday, shortening the summer and extended spring and winter, but various unions shot that down. Data shows that gap between low and mid to high, gets bigger over the summer break.
Reading is a big priority in our school currently and we organised an open evening for parents to get families registered at the local library. We had a total of 8 parents attend. There are over 420 kids.
Year on year, we perform worse in the PISA testing.
For most parents, education is babysitting and you can learn everything you need on a smartphone.
We are definitely going to have a huge demographic that is reliant on support throughout life due to poor education. The opportunities are there, it's what you do with them.
Sorry for the rambling post, long day!

 

[Quasicat]

I work in a very low income school district which hasn’t passed a levy since 2003 and is now purging so many programs and staff in order to stay open. We just went through contract negotiations and received 0% for the next two years as well as new requirements for internal subbing. There is a Facebook page ran by parents that say we are overpaid, but teachers in neighboring districts make twice as much with less experience. So many area districts are hiring which means many of the remaining staff and administration are quitting in high numbers, but the ones staying behind are trying to keep it afloat. It really shows who cares versus the people who will not be returning next year. The saddest part is that I have been at this district for more that 20 years and love the community so much, but I feel like I’m watching my best friend slowly die.

 

[jshackles]

jshackles Some of what you say is true, but my wife does far more than babysit. Every student is required to make improvements for standards. Her school is in an upper middle class area, but they bring in kids from lower income areas as well. Her school is one of the top 5 in the state. There are kids with more active parents that push them, and there are kids with parents that do what they need to, and there are kids with parents that do little to nothing. Most problems with kids in school are a myriad of things, sometimes it is bad teachers, sometimes it is bad parents. There is no one solution.

Good point - I guess like anything in the US, there is a range. There are obviously good schools out there, and it sounds like your wife works at one. Now if we could just figure out a way to elevate the rest of them to that level, we would be in business.

 

[Durien]

People got to remember that culture and dumbassery plays a part.

Check out any global schooling rankings and Asian country students always do the best. And let’s face it, it’s not like every Asian person is rich. I wouldn’t be surprised if the avg poor Mongolian kid gets better marks than a western kid.

So it goes to show you don’t need ivy walled schools to do well in reading and math. You just need an environment and culture where kids, teachers and parents don’t collectively act like morons.

Yeah my wife is Japanese and explained about the school system. You take a placement test to get into schools so that you have kids of likeminded skill and ability.
Also the schools.themselves don't mess around. Kids, for the most part are respectful but also grownup in a culture where differences stick out.. I think the saying goes something like,, "the nail that sticks up gets the hammer." One last thing, asian countries, for the most part (but this is changing), only havenone working parent or they have 2 working but one only works while the kids are in school (part time). The parents are also involved in then school.and reinforce the importance of education. Huge sense of community as well. Last trip to Japan, they has a community festival at the school my wife went to over 40 years ago. It was ooen to everyone in the area to come and check out.

I wish I could get some funding to do an in depth study on the affects of having 2 parents working vs one (and I am not talking single mom's or dad's because that is still an absence).

 

[Trogdor1123]

I wish I could get some funding to do an in depth study on the affects of having 2 parents working vs one (and I am not talking single mom's or dad's because that is still an absence).

lots of studies on that in North America. Not sure about Asia

 

[Durien]

Attendance is a massive impact on attainment but the powers are limited to non existent. Some parents just don't see the value in any education.

Our school district is now tracking attendance and making it a priority to get and keep kids in the seats. My kids found it incredible that it is against the law to skip school.

A state law in Washington, called the “Becca Bill,” requires all children between ages 8 and 18 to attend school regularly. The law requires parents or legal guardians to make sure their children are in school regularly.

However, a couple of kids in my daughters classrooms went on 2 week vacations. Now that we have remote learning I can "see" how they can donthebwork.while on vacation. However, this is the same school district that declares snow days even though the kids have access to remote learning....

 

[Durien]

One thing that article.said is as the kids leave, they begin losing funding. They should use a couple of schools as an experiment. Keep the funding the same and teach the kids as normal. With the kids leaving for private schools.and such, class sizes are shrinking. Don't handcuff the teachers and see what they can do to improve.

One other huge difference is, at least in Japan, they get 3 weeks, I think, of summer vacation. Over those 3 weeks they have homework to turn in when they get back. We have a school in Washington, I think in Central Washington, but not sure, where they are experimenting with year round school.

Here we go:

https://www.tri-cityherald.com/news/local/education/article285531507.html

 

[ADiTAR]

Thank god for AI, all these kids can be plumbers.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Our school district is now tracking attendance and making it a priority to get and keep kids in the seats. My kids found it incredible that it is against the law to skip school.

A state law in Washington, called the “Becca Bill,” requires all children between ages 8 and 18 to attend school regularly. The law requires parents or legal guardians to make sure their children are in school regularly.

However, a couple of kids in my daughters classrooms went on 2 week vacations. Now that we have remote learning I can "see" how they can donthebwork.while on vacation. However, this is the same school district that declares snow days even though the kids have access to remote learning....

Is this a new thing in your district? I thought truancy is a standard kind of tracking by any school??? Heck when I was in grade school everyone knew when someone didn’t show up. Even in high school where kids skip class you can’t do it forever. At some point the teachers would notify parents Joe Bob isn’t showing up.

 

[Durien]

Is this a new thing in your district? I thought truancy is a standard kind of tracking by any school??? Heck when I was in grade school everyone knew when someone didn’t show up. Even in high school where kids skip class you can’t do it forever. At some point the teachers would notify parents Joe Bob isn’t showing up.

With covid they stopped tracking but expected numbers to rebound. They didn't...Now if my kid has an absence I get a text, a call, and an email. I then need to call the attendance hotline and leave a bunch of information as to why it happened. I would find it interesting if a doctor's appointment or illness is in the same category as vacation in Florida lol

 

[StreetsofBeige]

UK based teacher here. I taught from 8 to 15 year olds.
Now in charge of 4 to 12 year olds. Member of Senior Leadership Team.
Attendance is a massive impact on attainment but the powers are limited to non existent. Some parents just don't see the value in any education.
We are a no homework school, those that need to do it don't or won't and those that do didn't need to. If that makes sense?
There was limited talk by our government of adjusting the holiday, shortening the summer and extended spring and winter, but various unions shot that down. Data shows that gap between low and mid to high, gets bigger over the summer break.
Reading is a big priority in our school currently and we organised an open evening for parents to get families registered at the local library. We had a total of 8 parents attend. There are over 420 kids.
Year on year, we perform worse in the PISA testing.
For most parents, education is babysitting and you can learn everything you need on a smartphone.
We are definitely going to have a huge demographic that is reliant on support throughout life due to poor education. The opportunities are there, it's what you do with them.
Sorry for the rambling post, long day!

I find it absolutely crazy that some schools have a no homework policy. News to me.

Not really surprised though. It’s a dumbing down of education where people try to do as little effort and work as possible. Not only is it good for the kid to learn, but it ensures the kids are active doing academics at home if their parents do jack shit.

Homework isn’t just about regurgitating math questions. It’s a time where the kid can do stuff their own way which you can’t do it during class.

It’s also the time for kids to expand their knowledge by doing work and also if they need help asking their older brothers or parents for help. That expands their knowledge base hearing it from a family member.

I didn’t need help as i did everything myself but what I said is similar to learning sports and stats. You don’t get much of that in gym class. I learned all about sports from my older brothers about stats and strategies etc…. I even remember the time I asked my brother as a kid what does Toronto Blue Jays at New York Yankees means? Should it be versus? Nope. My bro explained “at” meant where it’s played. It’s my bros who taught me what ERA and GAA stats are and even how to read a horse racing program!!!

If you got no kids doing homework or asking fam for help to expand their knowledge then the school better be the best knowledge centre in the world where students can learn everything in 7 hrs. And then go home and play Fortnite till bed time.

 

[BadBurger]

I grew up in a generally poor city. That meant badly underfunded schools.

When I got to college it was apparent how much of a better education the students received who were from the rich surrounding cities. I took a few AP classes, but since my high school was broke they weren't even as informative and expansive as the regular-ass courses at the other high schools.

But, hard work and dedication won out and I did OK - not great - in college.

 

[Quasicat]

Good point - I guess like anything in the US, there is a range. There are obviously good schools out there, and it sounds like your wife works at one. Now if we could just figure out a way to elevate the rest of them to that level, we would be in business.

In Ohio, the way public schools are funded was declared unconstitutional in 1997, and they still have not started fixing it. They need to do something, but it hasn’t been a priority for the past 27 years. This is why education is failing here, Congress is more focused on changing the standards instead of acknowledging the exodus of teachers leaving the field.

 

[TGO]

I was a kid with dyslexia, dyscalculia + ADD, coming from a low income family. Pretty much failed all the classes and the education system didn't kno what to do with me.

Now i'm a film director working in the high-end tv commercials, and doing a syndicated television show in Europe.

I actually find schools, especially these days, are too quick to call on Dyslexia and other things, then to actually sit down with the child to see if it's something else that can be addressed, or if they need a different approach.
And sadly, some mothers actually hope for it.
Often, a child isn't given enough attention when that's all they need.
Everyone learns differently and at different speeds, especially when young.
You just gotta work out how to teach them. Once you figure that out, they teach themselves and progress rapidly.
But they expect everyone to be the same and neglect if different.
I bet you learnt more out of school than you did in school

 

[Quasicat]

Reading is a big priority in our school currently and we organised an open evening for parents to get families registered at the local library. We had a total of 8 parents attend. There are over 420 kids.

We did the same thing this year having parent nights where we would talk about the importance of reading and another series of evenings talking about how school funding worked so we could pass our levy. We had such terrible attendance that they eventually cancelled the after school meetings. Two nights in particular, I went to see what was being said since I am a parent in the district and I was the only one that had shown up. The apathy here shows why our district is struggling.

 

[bitbydeath]

It’s the opposite where I live. My daughter starts high school next year so we went and checked it out a couple months back, and I am jealous of what they get these days.

They have extracurricular, on top of extracurricular, on top of extracurricular.
For example, some subjects you can switch out if they want to go hard in other topics, eg Football.

You also have after school extracurricular such as Dance classes, and there is also other after school activities on top of all that.

Kids aren’t deterred to leave when the bell goes, although they still have that option too. And on Thursdays they only do a half day so those with jobs can put in extra hours.

And that’s before mentioning the jet-setting around the world and improvements they’ve made to learning itself now being more about real life as opposed to the straight text-book study I had to endure.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

It’s the opposite where I live. My daughter starts high school next year so we went and checked it out a couple months back, and I am jealous of what they get these days.

They have extracurricular, on top of extracurricular, on top of extracurricular.
For example, some subjects you can switch out if they want to go hard in other topics, eg Football.

You also have after school extracurricular such as Dance classes, and there is also other after school activities on top of all that.

Kids aren’t deterred to leave when the bell goes, although they still have that option too. And on Thursdays they only do a half day so those with jobs can put in extra hours.

And that’s before mentioning the jet-setting around the world and improvements they’ve made to learning itself now being more about real life as opposed to the straight text-book study I had to endure.

Sounds like a good school (or perhaps school board as a whole).

Growing up, the schools I went to were just normal schools. Elementary and middle school didnt even have cafes serving food except juice, milk and cookies at some long tables the lunch room supervisor ladies sat at. And high school cafe served basic stuff like coffee (which teachers bought) and pizzas slices with a vending machine for pop. So all the stuff I see on TV where they show US schools with cafeterias dishing out free food from Lunchlady Doris kinds of people I never saw it. Everyone just brought their own lunch. As for school supplies, you brought your own stuff except elementary school where classes would have shelves of paper and pencils you could grab. Thats it. And it wasnt even good white paper. It was brownish newsprint kind of lined paper.

As for after school activities, high school had standard stuff like sports, music and drama class. I dont think my elementary and middle schools had anything. You just went home when class was done. You either walked home or hopped on the yellow bus. I dont think too many kids had parents picking them up after work.

Pretty much everyone (I think) from my school days I keep in contact with or see on FB turned out fine.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Yeah my wife is Japanese and explained about the school system. You take a placement test to get into schools so that you have kids of likeminded skill and ability.
Also the schools.themselves don't mess around. Kids, for the most part are respectful but also grownup in a culture where differences stick out.. I think the saying goes something like,, "the nail that sticks up gets the hammer." One last thing, asian countries, for the most part (but this is changing), only havenone working parent or they have 2 working but one only works while the kids are in school (part time). The parents are also involved in then school.and reinforce the importance of education. Huge sense of community as well. Last trip to Japan, they has a community festival at the school my wife went to over 40 years ago. It was ooen to everyone in the area to come and check out.

I wish I could get some funding to do an in depth study on the affects of having 2 parents working vs one (and I am not talking single mom's or dad's because that is still an absence).

Exactly. Thats my point.

Just because someone is poor or comes from a lousy run down school means nothing when tons of people in the world from poor areas excel at school.

What you need to excel is a culture that cares despite a family being poor or a school with shitty desks and supplies. And culture comes from family, government, and also students have responsibility to care and show up too.

I find it amazing that anyone growing up in a western country cant put two and two together and notice that if you want to get a decent job to make some cash to support a family and buy a home and car, you got to put some effort into either academics for good white collar jobs, or effort into apprenticeships or trades and make money going the blue collar route.

I can understand someone living in a crappy country with lousy economy being a downer on life as the entire city is crummy, but not when it comes to nicer countries and cities which locals should know better.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

Just because someone is poor or comes from a lousy run down school means nothing when tons of people in the world from poor areas excel at school.

That is an incredibly simplistic way to look at it, all the “correlation doesn’t equal causation”, etc.

Yes, there are people from shit villages in India that go to MIT in the US, but all of them are incredibly talented. In education, with million of students you are interested in what a base level is - students’ intellectual abilities being equal.

Here you clearly see that more money put into education results in better life for the students, it’s really simple.

I will use an example of a professional tennis player: with no exception top players showed incredible talent from the start, dominated the junior circuit years before becoming pros but also all attended professional tennis academies from a very young age, all of which are very expensive.

 

[ForAcademicPurposes]

 

[Quasicat]

It’s the opposite where I live. My daughter starts high school next year so we went and checked it out a couple months back, and I am jealous of what they get these days.

They have extracurricular, on top of extracurricular, on top of extracurricular.
For example, some subjects you can switch out if they want to go hard in other topics, eg Football.

You also have after school extracurricular such as Dance classes, and there is also other after school activities on top of all that.

Kids aren’t deterred to leave when the bell goes, although they still have that option too. And on Thursdays they only do a half day so those with jobs can put in extra hours.

And that’s before mentioning the jet-setting around the world and improvements they’ve made to learning itself now being more about real life as opposed to the straight text-book study I had to endure.

This is where we were before Covid. Almost all of our staff were staying behind and working after school clubs and running field trips to the state house, DC, etc. After the Covid funding dried up and the last couple of levies failed, my email is now full of job postings from people whom have left. There are hardly any after school programs anymore. The last day of school was just administration telling us to be patient as it will get better someday. But for now, it’s rats fleeing a sinking ship.