Author Topic: American Public Education Culture  (Read 1262 times)

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Offline Super Colin Blow

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Re: American Public Education Culture
« Reply #60 on: June 20, 2019, 03:56:28 pm »
What problem?

Our kids score above average.
US kids don't.

WE don't have a problem.

Rather than allowing a "who's better" argument, maybe we should examine what the U.S. might be doing wrong or consider doing differently? It's possible to be constructively critical without doing the former.
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Offline TimG

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Re: American Public Education Culture
« Reply #61 on: June 20, 2019, 03:59:21 pm »
You're arguing not enough teachers are fired. What's the arbitrary proportion of teachers that would satisfy your bloodlust for their jobs?
I stated what I want above:

I would be satisfied if school principals can honestly say that they never feel the need to leave an incompetent teacher in the classroom.
The number of firings is not as important as the ability to ensure that bad teachers are removed in a timely fashion. The statistics only suggest that there is substances to the complaints we hear from principals today that say it is next to impossible to remove a bad teacher.

Offline ?Impact

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Re: American Public Education Culture
« Reply #62 on: June 20, 2019, 04:05:51 pm »
But it is hard to say what "the US" is doing, because of the decentralization of the authority over public education in the U.S. In Canada, you give all power (as far as I am told) to the provincial governments, and leave little to the federal or local level.

Public education is a provincial responsibility, but there are many local school boards. In the past few decades, more and more decisions are being made at the provincial level and local school boards are amalgamating.

Offline Super Colin Blow

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Re: American Public Education Culture
« Reply #63 on: June 20, 2019, 11:35:30 pm »
Public education is a provincial responsibility, but there are many local school boards. In the past few decades, more and more decisions are being made at the provincial level and local school boards are amalgamating.

Local school boards in the U.S. are mostly elected; the state school boards typically aren't. Here, the governor appoints the state superintendent of schools (maybe the rest of the members as well, I'm not sure) with the consent of the Senate. I think many of us feel elected local boards are more "democratic" since it offers direct access to education via the ballot box. I do not know the specifics of what goes on in other states, however.

The federal government is often seen as meddling when it does something about education. Any teacher I've talked to can spout plenty of vitriol at the "No Child Left behind" Act, another gem from the U.S. Congress/Bush administration. I am inclined to agree with those that see the Feds as meddling, however.
« Last Edit: June 20, 2019, 11:38:36 pm by SuperColinBlow »
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Offline Omni

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Re: American Public Education Culture
« Reply #64 on: June 20, 2019, 11:56:46 pm »
Trump wants to rob something north of $7 billion from the public education budget. And hey guess what, that's almost enough to pay for "the wall", which I thought Trump said Mexico was going to pay for. And then he wants to open up national parks for coal mining/production. So end of the day both education as well as air quality go down hill, but hey, the Koch Bros. will be able to afford private schools and air filters. 

Offline ?Impact

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Re: American Public Education Culture
« Reply #65 on: June 21, 2019, 11:30:14 am »
Local school boards in the U.S. are mostly elected

Same in the parts of Canada I have lived.

Offline Super Colin Blow

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Re: American Public Education Culture
« Reply #66 on: June 23, 2019, 09:42:41 pm »
Same in the parts of Canada I have lived.

I threw my hat in the ring when I was 20, for one of these local boards. Alas, no one wanted a 20 year old to educate their kids, so I only received like, 1300 votes (the highest winner was 15,000+) in the primary, knocking me out of consideration for the general election. (non-partisan primary). It was pretty interesting.
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Offline Granny

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Re: American Public Education Culture
« Reply #67 on: June 24, 2019, 09:22:00 am »
Rather than allowing a "who's better" argument, maybe we should examine what the U.S. might be doing wrong or consider doing differently? It's possible to be constructively critical without doing the former.

We can't really help you with that.
Maybe start by comparing funding?

In Canada,
The average provincial per-
pupil funding is projected to be $12,246 in 2019–20.

That's basic funding, calculated on a per student basis, for classrooms, teachers, equipment, materials.. There are additional grants for Special Needs kids, inner city high-needs schools, capital costs for buildings, etc.

Neither of us is particularly high on the list in terms of % of GDP spent on education.
https://data.oecd.org/eduresource/public-spending-on-education.htm
« Last Edit: June 24, 2019, 09:51:49 am by Granny »

Offline Super Colin Blow

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Re: American Public Education Culture
« Reply #68 on: July 07, 2019, 02:12:16 pm »
We can't really help you with that.
Maybe start by comparing funding?

In Canada,
The average provincial per-
pupil funding is projected to be $12,246 in 2019–20.

That's basic funding, calculated on a per student basis, for classrooms, teachers, equipment, materials.. There are additional grants for Special Needs kids, inner city high-needs schools, capital costs for buildings, etc.

Neither of us is particularly high on the list in terms of % of GDP spent on education.
https://data.oecd.org/eduresource/public-spending-on-education.htm

I might have mentioned, the state and federal government do give extra money to inner city schools (because they're urban areas) and minority students.
WAR IS PEACE
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH

Offline JMT

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