Things That Are Bothering You, Got You All Hibbeldy-Jibbeldy, or just downright pissed, RIGHT NOW!

Personal example so N=1. My brother had 3 kids with his girlfriend. They were young parents and cared a lot about getting high and less about a stable job and place to live for their kids. From birth - 5, all kids bounced around to multiple places to live, family, shelters, and various apartments for short stents. When school started, the lazy parents would not wake up in time to get the oldest to school and he almost retook kindergarten. Strangely though, all kids ended up retaking 2nd grade.

At some point, my mom said "enough" and took custody of all 3 kids. They were then in a steady home with meals, sleep, and no basic life worries. While they were in the shytty school district I went to, they all did and continue to do better than if they were to stay in their other living situation.

It is not just a school funding issue as others have mentioned.

edinatlanta said:

Yes and I guess to my point even if Finland isn't matching us dollar-for-dollar on education, I wonder if looking at school funding in isolation tells the wrong story. IDK though am dum.

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Nah, I think you're right. It makes sense in comparisons within the US where things are relatively homogenous in terms of other programs (obviously very different between rural AL and suburban Boston...but still nothing resembling Finland)

Social services make a huge difference and can also impact what is even included in school funding. E.g. some countries don't really mix extracurricular activities with school like we do. Some countries don't do food in school (e.g. Switzerland still sends kids home for lunch...which is actually kind of a big issue when it comes to women in the workforce...), etc. $1 into a school that does nothing besides teach students (who all have healthcare and food support from elsewhere) is different $1 into a school that runs a full kitchen, athletics department, additional after-school programs, etc.

Cultural differences also matter...that's a tough one too. American right now just doesn't respect being smart the same way it respects things like athletic achievements. There isn't anywhere near the focus on academics as there is in somewhere like South Korea where non-school learning and test prep is HUGE.

sugarbutch said:

Schools can't overcome the broader issues which affect the families of the children, but in addition to educating children, we seem to have decided that the school is the locus of delivery for all of the social services which aren't being provided elsewhere. One K-8 here even acted as a shelter for a time.

Money certainly won't fix everything, but I guarantee that the absence of money is worse.

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I've talked about this a bit but we moved our kiddo from the super convenient , well-funded , well-regarded district school to a specialized-curriculum charter school out in the country .

that charter school receives public funding from the district but only gets ~80% of what the district funds the mainline schools . so it is *poorer* . otoh , for our family it's been a vastly improved experience .

afaik nobody at the charter school is there by default , I see a structural intention and engagement from both parents and staff that is frankly absent at the district school . I ended up providing a testimonial during public comments for charter renewal and happy to throw a few thousand bucks annually if it helps ease fundraising burden . imho that's easy value .

but i'm not going to simply roll with a default situation out of some misplaced civic idealism . I'm a bit surprised the pandemic didn't beat that nonsense out of the true believers but what can you do ?

I also think it's disingenuous for somebody in a two million dollar house in a *top* school district to trumpet the public option as the socially ethical choice . for most that's not a default situation and shouldn't be presented as such

I mean, the US isn't even able to muster the collective will to stop children being literally murdered at school, so one has to say the education policy bar is right on the floor.