New (terrible!) test scores should be a wake up call on some of Democrats/progressives most cherished (repeated ad nauseam) talking points on K-12 education.
Amen to all. I wrote about the disconnect between education spending and outcomes recently; all four of the "Southern Surge" states with NAEP gains are on the low end of education spending, and collectively they prove your point that What Happens in Schools Matters. In fact, I'm mystified that these four states offer a clear playbook that Dems could adopt as their education improvement plan, and it's heavy on investments in teachers! Yet they don't... it's easier to pretend that these states (one of which was run by a Democrat for much f the last decade) aren't crushing blue states on education. The clearest evidence that the Dems have given up on education is the fact that they aren't running with the Southern Surge playbook.
Here is the post on the four states with recent gains, in case it's of interest. If you want better reading outcomes in this country, I think it will be of interest.
Glad you found it useful. It seems especially important to talk about these state success stories today, amidst questions about cuts to federal staffing and resourcing of K-12 Ed.
It does seem that we see have a major test of whether money matters when these states no longer get federal funding for education. These states all receive above-average amounts of their funding from the federal government.
Most of the states that do traditionally have the highest scoring education systems -- MA, NJ, CT -- have the least federal funding. But they also have the wealthiest residents who pay high state and local taxes to fund education. If the Trump administration really does cut funding to all the states -- including red states -- it will be interesting to see if those states can make up the difference and they maintain their test scores.
I am not expecting the funding that goes to states (Title I, Title II) to cease. It's congressionally-mandated, and even as we see staffing cuts at the USDOE today, every close-watcher seems to expect that funding to continue to flow. There is talk of moving the role of managing the funds to the Treasury dept, rather than Education, but no talk of ending funding that I see.
In my kids' district, scores are actually back up - they go to a school though that is both Title I and a blue ribbon school for closing achievement gaps. We have a good literacy curriculum, a lot of supports, engaged parents base, lots of volunteers, etc.
This district also reopened in September 2020, which makes a huge difference, IMP
Amen to all. I wrote about the disconnect between education spending and outcomes recently; all four of the "Southern Surge" states with NAEP gains are on the low end of education spending, and collectively they prove your point that What Happens in Schools Matters. In fact, I'm mystified that these four states offer a clear playbook that Dems could adopt as their education improvement plan, and it's heavy on investments in teachers! Yet they don't... it's easier to pretend that these states (one of which was run by a Democrat for much f the last decade) aren't crushing blue states on education. The clearest evidence that the Dems have given up on education is the fact that they aren't running with the Southern Surge playbook.
Here is the post on the four states with recent gains, in case it's of interest. If you want better reading outcomes in this country, I think it will be of interest.
https://www.karenvaites.org/p/the-southern-surge-understanding?r=wsgsa
Wow thank you for writing that piece on the “southern surge” — really informative!
Glad you found it useful. It seems especially important to talk about these state success stories today, amidst questions about cuts to federal staffing and resourcing of K-12 Ed.
It does seem that we see have a major test of whether money matters when these states no longer get federal funding for education. These states all receive above-average amounts of their funding from the federal government.
Most of the states that do traditionally have the highest scoring education systems -- MA, NJ, CT -- have the least federal funding. But they also have the wealthiest residents who pay high state and local taxes to fund education. If the Trump administration really does cut funding to all the states -- including red states -- it will be interesting to see if those states can make up the difference and they maintain their test scores.
I am not expecting the funding that goes to states (Title I, Title II) to cease. It's congressionally-mandated, and even as we see staffing cuts at the USDOE today, every close-watcher seems to expect that funding to continue to flow. There is talk of moving the role of managing the funds to the Treasury dept, rather than Education, but no talk of ending funding that I see.
In my kids' district, scores are actually back up - they go to a school though that is both Title I and a blue ribbon school for closing achievement gaps. We have a good literacy curriculum, a lot of supports, engaged parents base, lots of volunteers, etc.
This district also reopened in September 2020, which makes a huge difference, IMP