The report card is being issued Tuesday by the Network for Public Education (NPE), a nonprofit group co-founded several years ago by education historian and activist Diane Ravitch to advocate for America’s public school system. The authors evaluated states on criteria they see as promoting a professional teaching force, equitable and sufficient funding and equal opportunities for all students to succeed — all critical to the health of public schools.
Specifically, the reports looks at how states approach high-stakes standardized testing and school finance as well as how much they promote teachers as professionals and resist privatizing public education. How states spend taxpayer money is another criterion, as is whether states promote policies that affect the income, living conditions and governmental support for students to give them all a chance to succeed in school. Some states earned A’s in a category or two but none earned higher than an overall C.
I am both pleased to see that my state of Alaska is one of only thirteen states to achieve a grade of C, while also being horrified that C is the highest grade ANY state had achieved.
Public education is one of my sore points, and in my opinion NO state should feel satisfied with any ranking below an A, or an A- with extenuating circumstances.
However these days public education, and our teachers, are undermined, underfunded, and under empowered, and the result is dumber children, moronic adults, and voters who cannot find their asses with both hands and a road map.
Which by the way is really the driving force behind the conservative attacks on public education.
I mean come on, would an intelligent, well educated person vote for a Ted Cruz or Donald Trump?
Gryphen, I rarely disagree with your assessments,but in this case I must: since these people insist upon showing their asses, we must assume that they do know how to find them...😡
ReplyDeleteEducating the masses is what keeps republicans from winning presidential elections.
ReplyDeleteHence the Republican push to undermine what was once a world class education system.
DeleteI'd like to see a similar chart for 50 years ago. Before they was the push for standardized testing and standards, privatizing, underfunding and undermining of professional teaching standards.
In other words, Pre-Reagan versus post-Bush.
In my state:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/how-ohio-gov-john-kasich-took-over-the-schools-in-youngstown/2016/02/01/3944be56-bbc0-11e5-b682-4bb4dd403c7d_story.html
I live in NE Ohio (Bath Twp, Summit county) and I have such hatred for Kasich and his administration it makes my blood boil. It's like he is TRYING to destroy our schools. I am so lucky to live in a really fantastic district but if he has his way we won't be immune from his shit for much longer.
DeleteI live in SW Ohio and I feel the same as you do JillyG. Kasucks is evil when it comes to public education. He IS trying to destroy our schools in favor of falling charter schools here. I think his next target is the wealthiest districts since parents can afford to send this kids to private schools.
DeleteSame with Walker in Wisconsin. They want to justify privatization by making public schools fail.
DeleteCommon core is meant to kill public education.
ReplyDeleteI think the concept is meant to improve it, but the execution under our republican governor here in Ohio has meant to kill it, yes. Set it up so kids fail so you can say the system failed, yk? No. The system works if you let it work. Teachers need to be free to teach in ways that students connect to - not to a test that measures NOTHING other than an ability to memorize facts. LEARNING is not memorizing. It's experiencing and living...it's evolving, it's not measured by correct answers on a test. Unfortunately, policy makers don't get that.
DeleteI agree with JillyG that concept itself isn't meant to help. The public school system is a huge bureaucracy and like all bureaucracies, the best intentions are often executed in a way that results in the the opposite of what was intended. And, of course, policies like Common Core can be used in very negative ways.
Delete"Isn't meant to HURT."
DeleteI so agree with you on this matter and it is frightening to watch.
ReplyDeleteHopefully, voters throughout the country will vote Republicans out of office every chance they get!
And, it's way past time that Alaska's majority in our Legislature turn blue!
Here in Virginia, we were sold a bill of goods re: education & the state lottery. It was SUPPOSED to supplement the state budget, but instead, rapidly became pretty much the entire state contribution. The rest is supported by local municipalities. Don't think the lottery would have passed if voters knew there was going to be a bait & switch.
ReplyDeleteWe had the same thing in Michigan, the lottery money was suppose to go for education-big lie.
DeleteWe also had/have Republican governors Engler and Synder that not only worked to break the teachers union, but also stole their pension funds and are promoting charter schools.
Republicans always have the funds to start more wars. If they aren't starting more wars, they're gearing up to start more wars. Sickening that they don't feel education and health care is more important.
ReplyDeleteSchools have traditionally been funded with property taxes. With the advent of (the poorly written) Prop 13 and it's clones, funding for schools has been systematically undermined for decades. Promises about lottery funding have been warped and broken. Laws to fix the mess have been systematically undermined or outright violated.
DeleteIt is all so very complicated. If we could just be assured that our leaders (politicians) had our childrens' futures as their number one priority. That is why I support Hillary (not that Bernie doesn't care). I just don't see him being as effective as Hillary.
Delete"The report card is being issued Tuesday by the Network for Public Education (NPE), a nonprofit group co-founded several years ago by education historian and activist Diane Ravitch to advocate for America’s public school system.............."
ReplyDeleteLol. Gee are you really surprised an activist advocate (for mo money) determined no system gets above a C?
What a joke. If you want your kids to get a good education, it is on the parent(s) to make sure that happens. And that can happen anywhere.
Diane Ravitch is about the most rational, impartial commenter on education in the country. She should be our Secretary of Education. She started working for the Department of Education in favor of No Child Left Behind (under Republicans) and ended up despising the law. Read any of her books and you will get an unbiased view of U.S. educational practices through history and in comparison to the rest of the world. She makes tons of practical suggestions for what needs to be done to remediate our educational system, starting with prenatal care. Read her book "Reign of Error." I hope that Bernie or Hillary will include her in the next Democratic administration. She will get us on the right track.
DeleteSorry, but one lady who has floated around the Federal level of education and made a cottage industry for herself around that experience- is not going to get your kid educated. Nobody can do that or guarantee that except for the parent.
Delete90% of making sure you children are learning and know how to learn, starts before they walk out that door.
if you depend on a system to educate your kid (which most stupid parents who shouldn't be parents do) you will most likely fail.
If we believe that, 8:28, then we give no hope to children born into less-than-ideal or even terrible circumstances. Universal preschool is a program that can help educate parents as well as children and makes a real difference. There are amazing elementary school teachers who fill in gaps and work their asses off to try and get to every child. Of course it's harder when parents aren't on board or even actively working against education, but that's reality and schools have to deal with it, not only for the good of the children, but for the good of the school and the rest of us.
Delete8:28 needs to read more
DeleteLike they say 8:28, opinions are like assholes.
DeleteWhat is scary to me is that Alaska gets a C, and then I look with what abandon the PayMes take their children out of school (or not get them INTO a school to start with!), and no consequences for that.
ReplyDeleteAlso, that a C still produces idjits like the PayMe brood!
Looks like the taxpayer R private schools are making the taxpayer public schools look bad. That was the plan, right? Same with healthcare, utilities, prisons etc.
ReplyDeleteI live in a state that got a "D", sure, the majority of public schools are underfunded/ have gone charter, and hire anyone with a college degree and hope for the best. We busted our butts to make sure our home was in a good district in the suburbs, and my husband and I took active roles in advocating for the kids, the teachers, and bitched to get basic supplies, while the administrators busted their butts to keep profits high, and teach only to pass certain tests all schools in our state got. I'm not bragging, and I do feel a tinge of guilt for those who couldn't afford to move, pay more taxes, and take time off to help the teachers and students.
ReplyDeleteNow we're almost empty nesters, Two married, one single, two still in college, fingers crossed they'll find good employment. We built our retirement home and are in the process of doing cosmetic work and selling the old house in the spring.