6 public schools in CA are better than UT Austin - embarassing!!!! (Wharton: limo, houses)

[sxrckr]

There is too much complaining in this thread. UT is fine.

Though I agree the high schools need some help. Most of that isn't the schools' faults though, it's the idiot parents who don't do their job raising kids these days. I just saw that video from an Alief Taylor High school. Beyond sad.

[theloneranger]

Primary and secondary education and college education are administered by two entirely different sets of people.

UT is the school where the best and brightest of Texas attend, not the rank-and-file graduate of our subpar public schools. Also, Texas does not rank 49th in any ranking I've ever seen, and never will as long as that exclusive quadrangle of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama exist.

[Former Odessan in Austin]

Originally Posted by theloneranger

Primary and secondary education and college education are administered by two entirely different sets of people.

UT is the school where the best and brightest of Texas attend, not the rank-and-file graduate of our subpar public schools. Also, Texas does not rank 49th in any ranking I've ever seen, and never will as long as that exclusive quadrangle of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama exist.

That was right, we were were 45th before George W Bush was govenor of Texas, Texas was 49th after his two terms. So what is the differece 45th or 49th, neither ratings are acceptable.

[rgb123]

Originally Posted by jluke65780

You make the San Antonio area seem bad. I have family there is education is VERY important in to them. They don't settle for none of their kids not going to college, and pretty much will pay out of pocket just to make sure they achieve a higher education.

I like San Antonio. But I am not going to sugar coat the people I know here. These are the people I know here! Blame them, not me!

And one question for you -- have you ever lived outside of Texas?

[theloneranger]

Originally Posted by Former Odessan in Austin

That was right, we were were 45th before George W Bush was govenor of Texas, Texas was 49th after his two terms. So what is the differece 45th or 49th, neither ratings are acceptable.

That number that is thrown out is the dropout rate, not the overall quality of education, which is difficult if not impossible to quantify.

However, the remarkable thing is that Texas has as successful an education system as it does spending as little as it does on education. We rank dead last in education spending yet the best and brightest grads of Texas high schools (those that stick it out for all four years) tend to compete well with the best and brightest of every state. These are the kdis who are going to UT, and they're being prepared without bankrupting the state.

[doss1]

Dont' matter. As long as you have a degree, the world is yours.

[blkgiraffe]

Originally Posted by rgb123

I like San Antonio. But I am not going to sugar coat the people I know here. These are the people I know here! Blame them, not me!

And one question for you -- have you ever lived outside of Texas?

No, and I'm only 19. I've traveled outside the US though.

[mlassoff]

Originally Posted by theloneranger

However, the remarkable thing is that Texas has as successful an education system as it does spending as little as it does on education. We rank dead last in education spending yet the best and brightest grads of Texas high schools (those that stick it out for all four years) tend to compete well with the best and brightest of every state.

We have a successful education system because those at the very top succeed, while we fail hundreds of thousands who are not in the top 5 - 10%?

I don't know that the top 10% of grads from Texas high schools compete with the top 10% of grads from high schools elsewhere. The top 10 percent of my graduating class went overwhelmingly to ivy league universities. While you do have Texas grads going to ivy league or top tier schools, you don't have the percentage you have in other areas. I know that location is a factor, however, I don't think thelonerangers perspective is entirely accurate here.

Also, in most other places its a given that the best and the brightest will "stick it out" for the four years of high school... Is this really an issue here?

From what I hear from the UT community many top 10% high school grads are not prepared for even the rigors of UT-- which leads to a much lower 5 year degree completion rate than you say at the overwhelming majority of top 50 schools.

[achtungpv]

Originally Posted by mlassoff

I don't know that the top 10% of grads from Texas high schools compete with the top 10% of grads from high schools elsewhere. The top 10 percent of my graduating class went overwhelmingly to ivy league universities.

My HS valedictorian didn't even go to college.

As long as Texas continues to focus on a test of very basic skills, it's going to drop further and further behind states like VA & CT.

[hsw]

IIRC, ~40% of Harvard's Class of '09 was unemployed at graduation...a testimonial to the irrelevance of a lib arts degree, even from a prestigious college, in a challenging economy

Silly state boundaries are irrelevant in a globalized/Net-connected/Blackberry world where major tech or energy or financial firms will periodically relocate to most efficient locales where top execs want to live/work

Smartest kids from Harvard or Wharton flee upon graduation to NYC or SiliconValley

Despite MIT, Bos region has nearly no valuable tech cos.

U-IL is one of world's top 3-4 engineering schools for Computer Science, yet nearly all its top grads are in Silicon Valley, not in Chicago or in Midwest

Would argue money alone doesn't "buy" a useful education, nor do prestigious colleges always translate into a powerful local economy or big paychecks for grads

Smart, ambitious, entrepreneurial kids figure this stuff out on own, even while at mediocre public suburban elementary/middle schools; at middle-income family dinner tables (learning from parents' career mistakes/successes); and migrate to most relevant college opportunities, despite lame high schools...after all, any hungry kid can self-teach much via self-created "curriculum" in a Net/Kindle world