Miller discusses how it may be that the United States spends more on schools than other nations, and only produces middling scores on international comparative tests.
In the first place God made idiots. This was for practice. Then he made School Boards.
- Following the Equator; Pudd'nhead Wilson's New Calendar
His map tells it all. There are huge areas in which educational spending per student is too low. On the average, local taxes pay 44% of the cost of public schools, states pay 47%, and the federal government 9%. The local school districts can produce a lot of revenue for their schools in high income communities, and some states strongly support education. Strangely, federal support for education matches state funds, so "them that has, gets".
It would seem that there ought to be national standards for facilities and supplies, and a system whereby the affluent subsidize the poor if we are to equalize the educational opportunities.
Perhaps some kind of national scale for teacher pay might be considered, modeled after the civil service. Pay might be based on qualifications, with cost of living adjustments.
If we paid enough to have good teachers everywhere, and if we gave them adequate facilities and supplies, we should see the average educational outcomes approach the best that we have. Miller also suggests that No Child Left Behind testing and standards are a joke, and we need a system in which we can tell whether all of our kids are learning math, science, and English.
1 comment:
Tom Hanson, the Editor at
OpenEducation.net
wrote to me noting that he too had posted on this Atlantic article. His is a more thoughtful and nuanced discussion:
http://www.openeducation.net/2008/02/07/millers-kill-all-the-school-boards-just-a-provocative-title/
I think the main point is not that we can't really reach a situation with "no child left behind", but rather that school boards in too many communities in too many states are letting most of their kids fall behind.
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