this post was submitted on 07 Mar 2025
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No, I thought basic education was covered by federal taxes. You're telling me it's funded at the county level?? WTF?! Why?
Because in a segregated society, that's how you ensure that poor minorities have shitty schools.
(I am neither joking nor exaggerating, BTW.)
It’s a mix. A lot of our buildings and that require a lot of local funds, plus operations, etc.. We all get the same base per student from the feds, but vast disparities on filling in the rest based on where you live.
Okay, so does that mean each state can make changes to the curriculum? That doesn't sound that bad to me... you're essentially like a continent, and amendments to the curriculum could bring some benefits. But I guess the base standards still apply. The one thing I’d caution against, though, is the downgrading of problem-solving skills.
they can make changes to their curriculum, but if they can’t pass the standardized tests, they risk losing funding (or having the feds come in to run the school). so, most teach largely to the lowest common denominator.
Yup pretty bad. Once again, this explains my reasoning in the OP.
Thank you!
Oh. It also gets better when it comes to literacy. Starting somewhere in the late 90s/early 00s, nationwide changes were made to the curriculum to use commercial systems that were developed to help people with developmental disabilities understand enough written language to function (street signs, fast food menus, etc).
These changes have resulted in a distinct increase in functional literacy. As of last year, 54% of the US population was only capable of reading at the sixth grade level or lower, with 70% of children from low-income families (an income bracket that is consistently growing as upward mobility evaporates and downward mobility has become the norm).
Reading is a fundamental skill from which ones ability to self-learn, explore new ideas, and critically analyze things relies on. These are schools necessary to succeed in life. Written language is something that our brains did not evolve for and must be coaxed into properly understanding. So, we have at least a generation of young people who lack very basic literacy skills that one in a modern society needs to compete and collaborate on a global stage.
To be fair, I don't think that this was quite the intended result, as much as a byproduct of redirecting public education funds into already wealthy people's pockets. The result, however, is monsterous and, if we make it through the current shit, the people of the US are going to need a lot of help from the rest of the world to fix the educational deficiencies that have been inflicted upon us by Boomer politicians that have been robbing their children and children's children for a good half of a century.
Oh, for sure. Those of us that can think for ourselves here have been going nuts for decades!
We’re also very sorry for the damage done by our fellow citizens and leaders.
Don't apologize for something you didn't do. I haven't experienced any bad things from North American citizens yet, and I don't believe your leaders can cause enough damage that we can't recover from. Just stay strong and focus on improving things for your community, with education and health being the pillars of a strong one. 💪
Well, thanks for the pep talk and glad to hear it! I think it’s an American thing to apologize for things out of our control. Yes, that is what my wife and I focus on. Take care!
You're welcome! And thank you for enlightening me about the education system in the US; I really appreciate it! I wish both of you all the best. Take care as well!
You really don't seem to know much of anything about the diverse topic of education in the US to have such strongly held opinions about it.
I didn't know you had a worst educational system that you have. I just knew the individuals.
Make sense. Prejudice is often the reason for ignorance.