When you look at the statistics, we see that more and more Americans have attained more schooling and educational achievement today than at any other time in our history:
Nonetheless what exactly do we have to show for it regarding society as a whole:
How much are we spending on education today per person than in the past? How many Americans are on some form of welfare today than in the past? How many Americans are homeless today than in the past? How many children are born to single mothers today than in the past? How many Americans today are in debt than in the past? Exactly how much of a bang are we getting out our buck today than in the past?
Not by some. Interracial marriage illegal. Gays, illegal. Segregation. But some might think that was a Golden Era. When you imagine a Golden EraâŚis that part of it?
My parents keep harping about how great the late 80âs through 90âs was. I wasnât old enough to get the full experience. They werenât born in America but their fascination is with 50âs America, especially the cars, music and clothing.
I got dumped off right out of college into the Great Recession. Canât complain it worked out but still after hearing them talk about times before I feel I missed out on the best times.
In 23 Baltimore City Schools, zero students tested proficient in math in 2022, according to a report by Project Baltimore.
âIt just sounds like these schools, now, have turned into essentially babysitters with no accountability,â Jovani Patterson, a Baltimore resident who sued the district for not properly educating its students, told Fox 45 News. âThis is the future of our city. Weâve got to change this.â
I agree. It appears that weâre lowering the standards of education to allow more to get their degree but the quality of the degree has thus lowered.
First off, I didnât come up with the â â â â â â â term. Second, isnât just like a lib to go right to race, specifically when the context of the OP is about economics. Hereâs a way it has been used in that context:
It was the Golden Age of the U.S. economy, the quarter century between 1948 and 1973, when the U.S. reigned supreme, manufacturing flourished and the American middle class prospered.
What Iâm trying to get at here is what we are spending today vs in the past along with the results. The argument from the Left (on pretty much everything) is just throw more money at it! Thereâs generally no thought put into it or any plan involved, just the belief in the âmagicâ of government! But what are the facts?
They say that if you repeat a lie often enough, it will become the truth.
Several viral social media posts claim legislators have been draining education funding for years. A tweet from a high school football coach asserting that âtheyâve been defunding education for yearsâ has garnered over a half-million likes in just a few days.
The problem is that we havenât actually defunded education. Weâve done the opposite.
On average, the United States currently spends over $15,000 per student each year, and inflation-adjusted K-12 education spending per student has increased by 280 percent since 1960. In California, where the previously mentioned football coach resides, inflation-adjusted spending on K-12 education has increased by 129 percent since 1970. Furthermore, data from the U.S. Census Bureau show that nearly a third of all state budget expenditures go toward education.
This is a particularly pernicious myth in the education debate because increased education spending generally isnât associated with better results. Stanford University economist Eric Hanushek reviewed nearly 400 studies on the topic and concluded that âthere is not a strong or consistent relationship between student performance and school resources.â
That shouldnât surprise anyone. Pouring more money into the same broken system wonât fix the deeper problem â government monopolies have weak incentives to cater to the needs of their customers by spending money wisely.
I used to keep really current on these trends (and be able to quote all sorts of weird data about it.) The basics are that there is a ton of high-quality data, university studies etc. showing:
the US reached some sort of educational apex in the early 1970s . . . a time when we landed men on the moon, produced scientists doctors and engineers for the world etc⌠(Yes we actually used to send educated people to places like China and India)
US 4th graders still rank pretty high within the OECD which ranks at the top of the world
By 7th and 11th grades, there has been a general (undeniable) decline in US learning since the 70âs apex, but an opinionated person might rightfully shrug-off much of that decline saying such things âDoes it really matter?â or âwho cares that our HS students no longer learn that. Most subsets of students didnât use it anyway.â
The truly tragic decline has been among (subset) math and science achievement among (subset) US college-bound students. In that subcategory we now rank near the worldâs bottom. Roughly 50% of our college matriculants could not have even made it into college in 1970 and, in STEM disciplines US grad school, med school etc. have basically become a US-funded foreign aid for the rest of the world.
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Footnote. While a lot of really good data, international tests etc. exist going back to the mid 20th century, the only truly-comparable, single-set, single-source data comes from a series of tests that were not widely administered until circa 1997.
The late 80s through 90s seems like it was pretty good. The economy was booming on all levels, most race issues had been defeated but it was before the woke era brought it out for no reason, Nintendo was on the top of its game, there were still cool toys before everyone said theyâre too dangerous and helicopter parents went out of control, and there were good movies and tv shows.
From 1985 to 1996 the unemployment rate never went below 5%. It was often over 7%. Not that great. Weâre at 3.9% now. And for the record we have a lot of very good movies and tv shows now.
Excellent post! I suppose that we can take solace in that US students likely know much more about LGBTQ+ issues than any other students around the world!
The vast majority of Baltimore City schools students come from single parent homes, are 2nd and 3rd generations of largely uneducated parents and boys have no positive male role models other than perhaps coaches if they do play some sports. Thanks to Joey Potato Head, Baltimore being one of those stellar examples of âsanctuary citiesâ, recreation centers are being used to warehouse illegal invasion troops. Non English speaking illiterates are also being dumped into the schools so that Baltimore can reap the benefits of more taxpayer money.
The gangs recruit middle, high school and sometimes elementary age children to commit crimes because minors arenât prosecuted. The truancy rates are off the charts. Kids donât go to school they sell dope, flash mob businesses and steal cars.
No parents that give a rats ass, what could go wrong?
Welcome to big city life in America.
The schools in my opinion have thrown up their hands, classrooms are a joke. School district administrators have no answers, they still get their six figure salaries. Diplomas are handed out without any merit.
Baltimore City Schools receive one of if not THE highest amount per student federal education dollars.
Bad investment if you ask me.
The (beginnings of) fixing the problem is easy-peasy.
When students donât test up to grade level, make them go to summer school and/or repeat the grade.
Students that come from broken homes by and large lack discipline and do not respect authority, and under the current education model those two traits are imperative to learning. These moron lib elites who run education, the majority of whom have had no time in a classroom, donât understand this and simply believe throwing more money at this issue will fix it.
