Linda McMahon for Secretary of Education

Hmmm... Obama from 2009-2017 and then Biden 2021-now. 12 of last 16 years under Democrat control and rankings are plummeting. Maybe we ought to try something different?

 

Why should U.S. be #1 in education? Seriously. What makes this country smarter or more academically superior than people in other developed countries? Ever been to Denmark, Finland, Japan, Taiwan? They kick U.S. ass in many ways, not just education. Start with their diet. Fresh food, less processed crap. Finland & Denmark in particular are super eco-friendly. Walking and bike trails everywhere and people make good use of them. Back to education - it's much easier to selectively educate a largely homogenous population than it is to unconditionally educate a wildly diverse population of children with differing needs and interests.

 

Yeah, man! I want to be #16 too! All I ask for is a participation trophy.

 

"We need more engineers and less trumpet players." - something Linda McMahon would say.

 

Well I assure you the wrestling entrepreneur ain't gonna improve U.S. education. And what is "#1 country in the world" mean anyway? The melting pot is a myth. There is a certain amount of people coming together, but not as a whole. But rah, yay USA. I'm sure Trumph and his merry band of reality stars / bid donors will bring us all back to the glory days of the 1900s.

 

There really is no “education system” in the United States. At best it’s 50 separate education systems, with the feds mosty overseeing civil rights and doing grants to smooth out underserved areas. But local funding is overall 87% of that math. Even within states there’s a lot of local control and variability - as well as inequality even within close geographic areas (the proverbial “other side of the tracks” still very much exists). If we want to drill down it’s actually even more granular than “50 school systems”.

Many of the countries in those comparisons have the population of a single U.S. state and the national govt actually runs the public schools. Finland for example is a mostly homogeneous country of 5.5 million people. I wonder how their educational attainment compares to Massachusetts’ 7 million people? Anytime we look at national averages of the U.S. remember there are red states dragging down those averages, and I’d say inequality drags down all 50 states to at least some extent.

 

Deflect deflect deflect! lmao We want to lecture you on how bad your nominee is, but our results suck and oh by the way, our results don’t really matter.

 

Progressives want to destroy America. That’s why they let millions of unvetted immigrants in, knowing they would go on to kill our citizens, poison our streets and stretch our already stretched resources.

 

The truth is not a deflection. We have to weigh the entire country as a whole in education. But if and when we break it down by state, it tells a different story. Massachusetts ranks number 1 in education. Oklahoma and New Mexico are 49th and 50th respectively. Population of Mass roughly equals that of OK and NM. Mass alone would come close to top 10 country rankings. OK and NM combined, much worse than 18th.

But the world rankings are by country, not state. And combined, we're top 20. That's not bad considering we're competing with countries that have a smaller population than individual states.

Oh, and I live in a border state. Our streets aren't poisoned, our crime rates are down, and we're not starving for resources. Maybe, one day, you'd like to visit. I know some great Mexican restaurants in Nogales and Tucson, and plenty of fine dining spots in Scottsdale. My treat.

 

Well, the U.S. wanted something different. These cabinet meetings are gonna be uh… different trololol

 

Meanwhile, Florida’s SAT scores continue to spiral down. Dropping 18 points vs. the national average dropping 4 points.

Florida SAT scores decline since 2017, educators raise concerns

 

We are outspent in education as a percent of GDP by about 36 nations which reflects our standing. We are outspent by only 8 nations in defense as a percent of GDP - and 3 of those are at war. Our University System is better than any other system in the world and only Chile spends more GDP on higher education than the US so we are #2 there. Our primary and secondary spending is subpar and shows that the US does not prioritize it. I've attended plenty of city budget sessions on the budget and investing in education is way less important than saving money. That is why we have less guidance counselors, the arts are all but out of public schools, and our education tools are pretty mediocre. Wealthy areas fair much better because of the spending.

 

“You get what you pay for”. It checks out. Almost like you would expect correlation between pay and relative performance.

 

This thread is about the SoE and her (lack of) qualifications. YOU brought up global education rankings, which are likely based solely on test scores. Who's deflecting? If you wish to get back on topic, perhaps you can explain your confidence that this person will somehow improve the U.S. global education ranking.

 

You're off topic, but I really don't care about the ranking. I'm in schools every week. Elementary, middle and high schools. I see exceptional teaching and learning in almost all cases. Rankings are for diplomats and people less aware about what takes place in schools. Conversations tend to be "Rah Yay!" or more frequently "It sucks! Burn it down!" Those takes are grounded in ignorance. Again, the rankings are based upon standardized tests where not all countries operate under the same constraints. Your questions about doing what we're doing are too generic. Change in education is constant, so no need to question its necessity. Too often change for the sake of change gets in the way of good learning/teaching. It's not a monolithic thing either. Very few people understand the complexities and rigors associated with educating children in the U.S. Rest assured, this appointed SoE does not.

 

One was a woman who may have been in denial of her husband's indiscretions, misguidedly defending him, and another is covering up for her boy raping husband while being named in a lawsuit because of it. Are you really trying to draw a line here??

 

Charter schools are good imho because they are still public schools, with all the requirements that go with that, but offer curicula that are specific to student's interest. School choice should be choice of another public school with transportation.