#educationism

[kc-anathema]

Like many rich Americans, I used to think educational investment could heal the country’s ills—but I was wrong. Fighting inequality must come first.

Indeed, multiple studies have found that only about 20 percent of student outcomes can be attributed to schooling, whereas about 60 percent are explained by family circumstances—most significantly, income. Now consider that, nationwide, just over half of today’s public-school students qualify for free or reduced-price school lunches, up from 38 percent in 2000. Surely if American students are lagging in the literacy, numeracy, and problem-solving skills our modern economy demands, household income deserves most of the blame—not teachers or their unions.

[kiralamouse]

Better Schools Won’t Fix America

Like many rich Americans, I used to think educational investment could heal the country’s ills—but I was wrong. Fighting inequality must come first.

THIS THIS THIS THIS. As a former public school teacher: schools need money, training, support, etc, and badly so. But the biggest problems are outside the school building.

I had students who were trying to type 10-page research papers on their phones, because they had no other computer to type on. They also researched on their phones. Some walked a couple miles from the school to the nearest bus stop that would take them to a public library, but several didn’t have the time or energy to spend hours traveling.

I had students who were constantly exhausted, because they were up past midnight at their jobs to put groceries on the table for their families.

I had a student who frequently missed their first period class with me, because their single parent had trouble getting their disabled sibling with unpredictable morning needs into the car in time to get the kids where they needed to go before the parent went to work. One of the best students I ever had, who on paper should have been failed for chronic absences.

Make sure people have a genuine living wage and reliable, affordable healthcare and dependent care, improve infrastructure - you’ll be improving education outcomes drastically on the way, more so than any education reform possibly could.