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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]It drops lower because we defund schools and there’s no societal safety net to help kids and families be successful. Not because some teachers use Taylor Swift to teach literary devices.  [/quote]

The US is near the top of the list when it comes to spending per student. So, no. The Gates Foundation and other philanthropies have spent billions of dollars on US education. That’s not why the US is failing. Stop looking outward, and maybe do some self-reflection.

Not that I think T Swift is bad. Whatever - I don’t care. I do think that it’s an example of education in a non-rigorous setting. But, if our teachers didn’t have to go through a rigorous program, we can’t expect much.[/quote]

Okay, so how do we realistically fix the issue? [/quote]

Schools are given plenty of money, but is isn’t used wisely. They don’t need more funding. They need an overhaul of their budgets.

Stop spending so much money on trying to get an equal percentage of FRL kids in each school. When poverty is spread evenly among schools, overall test scores may be higher for the formerly high-poverty schools, but if you break down test scores by race and income level, the low SES kids are still performing badly (doesn’t matter which school they’re in). INSTEAD, get rid of crappy curricula (I’m looking at you, expensive Lucy Calkins) and use content-rich curricula instead. Choose one that follows a logical sequence, instead of having teachers operate independently - no one wants their kid to study the solar system in third AND fifth grades. Both Louisiana and NY have chosen to do so, and their test scores are improving - especially in the high-poverty groups!

If you don’t want segregated schools, talk to the county about HOUSING POLICY instead. I’m not saying it is good to have all FRL kids in a single school. To fix this, we need to stop building ALL LOW INCOME HOUSING in a single part of the county! Spread it out.

Shift funding around to pay teachers more. We don’t need a ton of overpaid administrators. We need teaching to become a desirable field. BUT to justify this, we NEED IT TO BECOME DIFFICULT TO GET A TEACHING DEGREE. Currently, it is one of the majors that is frequently chosen because is is EASY. We cannot have college students major in COLORING and then expect them to do a job deserving of being paid well. It’s time to guard the profession and make sure that those who graduate from schools of education are good, QUALITY teachers.

This surely wouldn’t fix everything, but it would be a start.

[/quote]

Okay, you bring up interesting points, but I still don’t believe that we can assume a teacher is unfit because they are using relevant musical references in the form of music videos? Surely you realize that this is a teaching technique used all over? [/quote]

Look, I’m not any of the posters b*tching about Taylor Swift. I wouldn’t care if my child had this as part of their lesson or not. I *do* care that my child’s education as a whole has been a joke, and that I have to supplement heavily at home. And I do care that not everyone is able to do this. Actually care about equity? It’s time for an overhaul of how things are done.[/quote]

I think this may call for separate thread, imo. Because most people were just responding about the use of visual tools in literature. [/quote]

Yet like most meaningful conversations, additional points are made, different questions are asked, and hopefully the conversation turns into something productive.

Or, we can just continue to complain about the use of pop music in a school lesson. Driving in circles is fun![/quote]

I think this is true IRL, but online not so much. I thought you brought up some interesting points, but at a certain point, the main point of the thread is derailed. Sorry. [/quote]

It’s ok, and I do understand that online (especially an anonymous forum like this) isn’t as good as in-person discussion. I do think (hope) that others may be drawn to this particular thread by the title, read my thoughts, and maybe consider them. We have to start somewhere.[/quote]

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