More on the education debacle

Last weekend I wrote about the dismal failure of most state-level expenditure on education, which was not producing results (or, rather, was producing negative results, in that the more money states spent on education, the worse their students appeared to perform).

Now comes further confirmation that things are in a mess.  Bloomberg reports:

U.S. high school seniors, whose school years have encompassed the sweeping education initiatives of two presidents, failed to demonstrate improvement in math or reading on a national exam.

Only 38 percent of those tested in 2013 scored as proficient readers on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, known as the “Nation’s Report Card,” released today by the Education Department. Three-quarters failed to show math proficiency. The scores were little changed from 2009, when the test was last given.

. . .

The Nation’s Report Card shows what students know in various subject areas and compares achievement data among states and demographic groups. Tests are also given in science, history and other subjects. Just 12 percent of 12th-graders were proficient in American history, according to a 2011 report.

The results paint a similar picture to that of SAT college entrance exam performance. The high school class of 2013 showed no improvement from the previous year and fewer than half of the test takers were prepared for college-level work, according to the College Board, owner of the SAT.

There's more at the link.

Frankly, I think that sending condemning the average US child to the public education system is doing them a lifetime disservice at best - perhaps doing no more than prepare them for catastrophic failure at meeting life's challenges.  I suspect it's now true to say that those of today's young people who succeed in America will do so in spite of the education system, rather than because of it.




Peter