"Right now, education in this country (especially in this state) is little more than a money trap. Sure, we are getting some kids out of high school, then out of college who are quite bright. But not nearly enough."
I am going to start this out with a slew of statistics:
- Nationwide, 84% of all high school students graduate with a traditional diploma in four years.
- About 65% of those high school graduates go on to college.
- 60% of the kids starting college, need some kind of remedial education before college credits can be earned.
- 40% of kids starting college graduate in four years; 60% graduate in six years.
- In 2017, the average student loan incurred for a four year degree was $40,000 (public and private schools).
Okay Bird - you have now buried us in statistics. Why? What does this all mean? It means simply this. If this were a business model, the venture would never get off the ground, It would have been considered a failure from the get-go. But in Minnesota, where 1/3 of our state taxes and a bunch of our property taxes go into education, we are getting screwed. We are the shareholders, and our ROI for education is simple terrible.
At the local Big 10 University which is located in Minneapolis, how is this problem being addressed? To start with, the administration at the University is all tied up in knots trying to figure out who are boys, who are girls, who are both, who are neither. Some might scoff at this this and think it is just blog humor, but sadly, it is true. It is PC run amok instead of worrying about education the youth.
Let me come with this premise. I like many of us, have worked with some sharp folks. I have also worked with my share of educated idiots. To become an educated idiot, it all starts in our failed government school system. It is the same old, same old, every year. The fact that 60% of the kids who manage to graduate STILL need remedial classes in college, should be a bell ringer. Plus the fact that a kid can graduate from college, tens of thousands of dollars in debt, and STILL not know much, should be a louder bell ringer.
Now I am not an educator. I am a retired business guy. I do know how to read stats. I do know good stats from bad stats. And these are bad stats. Most astute CEO's, seeing metrics like these in his or her organization, who do an immediate reclama. In other words, stop what you are doing, get out of the ditch, and find a better way.
Right now, education in this country (especially in this state) is little more than a money trap. Sure, we are getting some kids out of high school, then out of college who are quite bright. But not nearly enough. The rest are left to wander, living their lives, carrying a huge a debt on their backs. The taxpayers? They are left with less money for their families, as this broken education system continues to limp along.
It is sad that in 2018, we are still so stymied by this failed system. It really should not be that hard to fix. If we could get rid of the NEA and Education Minnesota, that would be a great start.Turning Minnesota red would be the next step. We can fix it now, or wait four more years when it is a whole lot harder to fix. The choice is ours.
If I operated a business which had prices 50-100% higher than my nearest competitor, and had a failure rate of 40% on my product, I would be out of business the first time a customer was allowed to choose. And indeed, the MSP city schools are just like that.
ReplyDeleteI once did a chart showing educational results vs. costs for all MN school districts, and it showed that, on average, the MORE money spent, the poorer the academic results. What we usually hear is that poor-performing schools need more money, but what is obvious is that money doesn't buy academic results. It's pushing on a wet string. Real education reform is easy; but the leftists just don't want to do it. Kids be d**d.
I posit that the greater amount of money in the household, the greater likelihood of a students ability and motivation to learn and succeed.
ReplyDeleteThe real culprits that prevent adequate educational achievement are:
1. Poverty and all that entails/implies.
2. Ineffective teaching and/or behavior management practices.
3. Ineffective school management practices.
4. Lack of home-based support by parents.
5. Physical and/or psychological problems affecting the child.
It is quite obvious in MN that the closer to the center of a city a school is and the greater level of diversity in the student body, the more difficult it is for any child to achieve academic excellence. Even though the per child spend is greater, it doesn't translate into better outcomes.
The elimination of the unions would help to allow admin to weed out ineffective teachers, but that's about all the good it would do.
When a major companies like Target/WalMart recognize that their civic duty is to provide discounts to teachers who have to buy their own supplies as the district doesn't provide them, we also have a serious problem.
I believe that poverty, and how it affects the childs first 5 years of life, is the major harbinger of failure. Poor health, lack of books and resources, poor role models etc all lead to an almost insurmountable hill to climb.
"I believe that poverty, and how it affects the childs first 5 years of life, is the major harbinger of failure." You may believe what you wish, but it isn't reality. My chart shows that, for any given amount of spending, the range of achievement is almost 2:1. Everywhere there are individual kids, classes, schools and even whole districts that put the lie to the idea. Besides, the schools have taken on the job of equal educational opportunity, of the "great equalizer," and they are staffed by "professional educators" who know best. You must accept the results they give you.
ReplyDeleteThe biggest problem, IMHO, is that we continue to allow the schools to offer up "we need more money" or "the kids are poor" as excuses. And since the public schools have an essential monopoly, and the excuses work, why should they change? They get paid (and get raises) whether the kids learn or not. Good people in a bad system produce bad results.
Now, you want a solution? Politically impossible, but simple and effective. Universal vouchers. The full value of the per-pupil cost in the student's home district, given to EVERY parent and to be used in ANY school--PUBLIC, private, parochial, home, charter. The advantage here is that public schools doing well will get essentially all the kids&funding they have now. Those doing badly will have a few years of continued funding in which to improve before competition sets up, takes away students&funding, and forces them to improve or close. Oh, and while some regulation would be required on the alternatives, the public schools should have the SAME regulations-- far less than what they have now.
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DeleteI think your argument will be that if you give parents a choice – and private schools the ability to pick and choose their students – that the public schools will become increasingly cluttered with the undesirable students. I will have much more later, but my immediate reaction is to ask WHY you would prohibit all of the parents and students who WANT a better education from being able to choose that, and instead trapping them in an institution which may short-change them for life?
ReplyDeleteThere is a vast schism between what parents want for their children and what they have the ability to achieve due to racism, geography and economics.
DeleteA voucher doesn't necessarily gain one admittance to Hill-Murray or Cretin. Academic and athletic excellence are the top sellers currently. Race and religion would become the criteria if vouchers were available to all.
Check out Milwaukee's failed experiment. Racial segregation is the word of the day with the caveat that a few of the segregated schools are performing well, due to committed parents, teachers, students and staff.
Again, much more later, but I have to correct your statement:
ReplyDelete"There is a vast schism between what parents want for their children and what they have [the financial means to provide.]
There are public schools, private schools, charter schools, parochial schools and home schools, all of which offer a better education at lower cost then the failing schools in Mpls and StP. Parents with the means to find better schools move to a new house "near better schools" all the time. Why not level the playing field for the poor parents who need it most? With universal vouchers, everyone gets the choice, and the public schools get the chance to compete.
Statewide Census of Private
ReplyDeletePrepared for the Minnesota Independent School Forum
http://misf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/2015_SCOPECompleteResults10-16.pdf
Good read re: current status of private school enrollment for future discussion.
That is an excellent citation, thank you, and I believe it almost completely proves my point. Towit:
ReplyDeleteA quick review of the referenced document reveals quite a number of truths inconvenient to those defending the public-school status quo:
• two thirds of these schools have no admission requirements. They do not “cherry pick.”
• At least 1% of private schools specialize in special education students. No doubt if the funding truly followed the student there would be more.
• Private schools in Minnesota are at 71% of capacity. Again, if funding followed the student they could easily be full.
• Black students are 7% of the private school enrollment compared with 12% in the public schools. This tells me black students are less likely to be able to afford the private education. It's not fair.
• What is even more striking is that private schools include 11% of free and reduced-price lunch students, while public schools include 38% of these economically deprived students. Why should poverty deprive parents a of a choice in the education promised to all?
• 84% of the private schools accept special education students.
• Private schools graduate 99% of their students, compared to only 82% for the public schools. The difference is even more striking for black students – 98% for the private schools compared with 62% for the public schools.
• Private school students average 50 points better on the SAT college entrance exam, and almost 10% better on the ACT.
• Finally, average private school tuition is $4438, though many of them offer scholarships. Most rely on outside income such that total average per-pupil spending is $7100. Compare that with the almost $12,000 ($11,949) average for Minnesota public schools. Clearly a universal voucher would enable almost every parent to choose an alternative school if the nearby compulsory-attendance public school was failing.
So, The answer to the question at hand, "why is it so broken," is that politicians and unions have conspired together to lie boldly, loudly and incessantly, as necessary to protect the status quo.
It does and I was pleasantly surprised.
DeleteBird? Question answered?
ReplyDelete