PISA scores

[BradStevens]

Stl public schools which are god awful spend more per student than the top school district in the state. $17k to $11k. It’s not a lack of money at the schools

It's more about money in the families.

But I think it is also about priorities and encouragement in the homes. If you have parents who don't read, don't make you read, don't teach you your numbers and letters before kindergarten, don't try to educate you about all manner of things, don't talk to you and when they do, don't use more complex vocabulary, correct grammar, etc. you are starting at a huge disadvantage. Most research shows that if the kid is behind in 3rd grade--that's age 9--the kid will be behind in grade 12. So those first 9 years are critical.

But we can't or won't legislate parenting in this country, so . . .

 

[manichi]

Stl public schools which are god awful spend more per student than the top school district in the state. $17k to $11k. It’s not a lack of money at the schools

I'm not an expert on school budgets but I imagine running a failing school is more expensive than running a functioning one, kinda like running a bad vs good business. high staff turnover, aging facilities eating up maintenance budgets, old equipment eating up time and money, no capital improvements. you end up with the bottom barrel administrators, teachers. add stupid decisions by school boards and politicians to the mix.

I think money is the ultimate issue but am comfortable calling bad spending issue # 1B. again, I guess we're seeing it just all feeds off itself.

 

[mcmurtry66]

It's more about money in the families.

But I think it is also about priorities and encouragement in the homes. If you have parents who don't read, don't make you read, don't teach you your numbers and letters before kindergarten, don't try to educate you about all manner of things, don't talk to you and when they do, don't use more complex vocabulary, correct grammar, etc. you are starting at a huge disadvantage. Most research shows that if the kid is behind in 3rd grade--that's age 9--the kid will be behind in grade 12. So those first 9 years are critical.

But we can't or won't legislate parenting in this country, so . . .

Yeah you get behind in math etc it’s impossible to catch up

 

[Univee2]

Yeah you get behind in math etc it’s impossible to catch up

Studies show that 5 out of 4 people have a problem with math.

 

[BradStevens]

I'm not an expert on school budgets but I imagine running a failing school is more expensive than running a functioning one, kinda like running a bad vs good business. high staff turnover, aging facilities eating up maintenance budgets, old equipment eating up time and money, no capital improvements. you end up with the bottom barrel administrators, teachers. add stupid decisions by school boards and politician to the mix.

I think money is the ultimate issue but am comfortable calling bad spending issue # 1B. again, I guess we're seeing it just all feeds off itself.

From my experience and talking with friends, a lot of dedicated teachers don't care about the facilities as much as they do a safe, respectful working environment. The do-gooder teachers WANT to teach these kids, WANT to "save" the underprivileged, etc.

They don't get run out by the salaries (which aren't that bad when you factor in the employee benefits, retirement plans, etc. in large cities like Chicago), they get run out by the kids (and sometimes parents) being disrespectful or not caring or a dangerous environment in the school, and because they don't "save" enough (whatever that means for each teacher) of them to make it rewarding enough.

In my opinion, all of this is a direct result of many of these kids already having suffered some form of trauma in their lives. The kids could attend class in the Palace of Versailles, and it wouldn't matter. If we want to change this dynamic, we have to address and eliminate the circumstances that give rise to the trauma. And I agree, that some of that trauma is due to poverty.

The Wire, Season 4 is the best depiction in pop culture. Every inner-city teacher I know who has seen the show is in awe of how they got so much so right. Although some think it doesn't go far enough in showing the abject apathy in most students.

 

[CO. Hoosier]

money is the biggest problem and it's not even close. the schools are broke and the families that attend likely have 10% the wealth of suburban counterparts. that is the issue, not the weird culture war bullshit you listed. you seriously took a moment to point out which issues are internal black community only issues? the systems driving all of this are much more complicated than that.

anyhoo, sorry someone ripped on white people today and it hurt you. hope this discussion on failing black schools was a good distraction from those awful feelz .

No. Money is not the biggest problem. Believing that it is is why schools fail blacks.

But there are green shoots in the baron landscape of black education. And the answer is not more money.

One of the poorest states leads the way.

'Mississippi miracle': Kids' reading scores have soared in Deep South states

Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana have seen a promising turnaround in their student reading scores after passing a series of similar literacy reforms. The success has grabbed the attention of educators nationally by showing rapid progress is possible anywhere, even in areas that have struggled...

apnews.com

 

[BradStevens]

Here's a 30-year teacher at a very mixed school, whose kids all went to a similar school, opining on some of these issues and looking at ~20 years of data:

Guest essay: Rethinking ETHS' approach to gaps in achievement - Evanston RoundTable

"The persistent academic achievement gap remains despite efforts to fix it. It's time to broadly rethink the school's role in this issue."

evanstonroundtable.com

"as the charts illustrate, the lack of equal achievement in such a highly committed school as ETHS strongly implies that a child’s ability to learn, engage and grow academically is, in fact, primarily developed and determined outside of school.

For example, in my 30 years of teaching, those who did well, no matter their social, racial, economic or cultural background, came to school ready to learn. They were mentally, emotionally and physically prepared to engage in the excitement and reward that exploring, sharing and absorbing academic knowledge offers. Maybe herein lies an inconvenient truth: we’ve been asking our high school to fix a problem that it doesn’t realistically have the skills, resources, training, topical knowledge or community guidance to successfully tackle.

Following the above, a third, more complex reality needs to be acknowledged. Schools function in an impactful and mission driven way when institutions outside of the learning space take direct responsibility for their role in the learning dynamic. Social, political, government and economic forces at the local, state and national levels supplementing a supportive and engaged family are the essential ingredients needed to mold our young people before they even step inside their first period class."