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katakowsj  ·  4449 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Leveling the field: What I learned from for-profit education
The economy falters and people panic. Our leadership allows snake-oil salesmen to swoop in and "educate" the disenfranchised we have neglected. In Michigan where I teach, we are being chided over test scores increasingly. Leadership at my school has compared us to a "higher-performing" neighboring district we should be aim to be like (we are losing students to them), rather than the "lower-performing" district nearby (we are gaining students from them). What has been neglected to be mentioned is that the "higher-performing" district has a per pupil allowance from the state of $10,000+, while the district in which I teach gets close to $7500 per pupil, and the neighboring "lower-performing" district gets $7000 per pupil. If we want everyone to succeed, the United States to succeed, why is it that we ignore clearly measureable differences and disadvantages that exist within our educational systems? Is the Finnish system unattainable for us in the U.S.? Is it that our divisions run too deep? Or, is it that we have not experienced an "education bubble" yet? We can pretend that our faulted system will be fine if we allow for less regulation and fair market opportunity. Will this help our country and it's citizens to a better life?