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Money isn't everything, but it is utterly inconceivable to me that schools in some states (Kansas, Oklahoma) are so poorly funded that they can only operate four days a week. Teachers are paid so little that they are moving to Texas (Texas!) for better salaries. It takes a lot of parenting to make up for that level of neglect to the educational system. What will be the end result? A big rush to the bottom, educationally and economically.
Louisiana is ranked 49, I believe. Sad. Louisiana Lottery has put in 3.4 BILLION dollars since its inception. With that much money put in, we should have a higher rank.
Louisiana is ranked 49, I believe. Sad. Louisiana Lottery has put in 3.4 BILLION dollars since its inception. With that much money put in, we should have a higher rank.
So how do you explain that?
Has that money been a substitution of funds, or an addition of funds?
This may be a good example of when people say that it doesn't do any good to throw money at the problem, when the real question should be -- what do you do with the extra money? Having lived in the South most of my life (Virginia, which was, after all, the capital of the Confederacy), there can be a sense that "our way" is "the right way", and it that's how the school system operates, more money won't result in a change in results.
This may be a good example of when people say that it doesn't do any good to throw money at the problem, when the real question should be -- what do you do with the extra money? Having lived in the South most of my life (Virginia, which was, after all, the capital of the Confederacy), there can be a sense that "our way" is "the right way", and it that's how the school system operates, more money won't result in a change in results.
Could that be the issue?
It could be. Given the history of politics in Louisiana, I wouldn't be surprised if that money was lining the pockets of politicians.
This may be a good example of when people say that it doesn't do any good to throw money at the problem, when the real question should be -- what do you do with the extra money? Having lived in the South most of my life (Virginia, which was, after all, the capital of the Confederacy), there can be a sense that "our way" is "the right way", and it that's how the school system operates, more money won't result in a change in results.
Could that be the issue?
That lottery was founded in 1991. There are 131 school districts in LA. If my math is correct the lottery has provided an average of about $13 million/year, which divided out is ~100k/year for each district.
That's not going to result in significant changes.
I think in this correlation means it's actually a confounding variable. And it's over emphasized because it justifies more funding for schools. I'm also in one of those states that you list, but with a local school that has historically produced outcomes well above the expected for a semi rural area. This school is a very good case study in the two groups mentioned previously -- the A group that places value on education and the B group that doesn't because that's what the student population consists of. Due to the presence of a large government lab, there is a disproportionate number of highly educated scientists, engineers, and craft workforce in the area. And a remaining student body from the classic lower income group. Kids from both groups attend the same elementary, middle, and high school side by side.
School funding per pupil is the same since they are in the same school, though there is a bit more spent on the lower group to pull them along. In fact it seems the school system goes out of it's way to assume the group A kids will do fine on their own and that the school needs to expend extra resources to drag the group B kids kicking and screaming through the system.
The outcome is the group A kids who have parents who care about education do well and go to college or tech school and move on to good jobs. The group B kids are drug through the system with minimal grades, and then get pushed into college or trade school where they languish for several years before becoming another six year statistic. And the state is putting even more money into dragging these kids through CC free and so far, other than some made-for-TV success stories, the primary outcome of that program has been to pull more of the group A kids into CC for two years before they head to college but not a huge dent in the final results for group B.
More than money or any other single thing, having parents who actually give a rat's behind is what makes the difference.
You're neglecting the importance of peer group in this. Your "Group A" kid in an affluent professional bedroom town is pretty likely to have a better outcome than a "Group A" kid in a failed city war zone public school system. A school that is almost entirely those "Group A" kids is going to cover a heck of a lot more material and offer a much better education because all those kids have engaged parents.
This is why people who can afford it send their children to top private schools. No town has 100% "Group A". In a top private school, they kick out anyone who slides down to "Group B". Most people don't have that option and just buy their way into the best town they can afford to put their children in with the best possible peer group. Welcome to United States socioeconomic self-segregation. It's everywhere. There are posts in this thread calling out Alabama. I'll bet you can find a Huntsville 'burb with a strong school system where most of the parents are college educated professionals. It's not the state and it's largely not the money spent per student. It's the cluster of affluent people that create the strong school system. The high cost of living places tend to have more of them than states with low median income but pretty much any city has their affluent suburb where the professionals live.
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