zlacker

>>lxm+(OP)
I’m sure every generation feels like the next is going to turn the world to hell… but what the hell? I find it absolutely bonkers that gifted classes, math, homework and objective performance assessments are suddenly under fire as instruments perpetuating inequality. Does our education system leave much to be desired? Absolutely! Let’s pay teachers more and improve access to quality education for all students, not cognitively handicap the next generation.

>>throwa+2o
The crazy thing is that the bar is so low in the US.

Where I live, Hoboken, NJ, the high school math and reading proficiency rate are 8% and 44% respectively, while the graduation rate is >95%

What the hell are they doing if they're not even teaching kids math and reading? And why are they graduating them?

Grades aren't meant to be a feel good merit badge. They're supposed to be an accurate reflection of your level of knowledge relative to your peers. If it ceases to be that, then the selection just happens elsewhere. So now high school diploma isn't worth anything because everyone graduates. Hiring a high school graduate doesn't even guarantee you the person can read. Same thing happens in bachelors as schools become less selective and inflate grades.

>>bko+As
How on earth do we de-escalate from here? I feel that in the US it is impossible to summon the political willpower to make it HARDER to graduate HS or go to college, even if these things would make society better off.

My personal opinion is that the government should get out of education, just lower our taxes and let the free market handle the rest. Never gonna happen, however.

>>uejfiw+Dv
> How on earth do we de-escalate from here?

The SAT provides a hard deadline which prevents you from de-escalating high school.

College provides a soft deadline which prevents you from de-escalating as getting a degree before you run out of money is an employment filter.

You have to remove college as an employment filter in order to de-escalate the whole thing.

>>bsder+jH
College is a filter because you don't get it for free * (usually) and to pass must show up on time and do the work.

High school _could_ become such a filter if a national standard were developed and _enforced_. Education shouldn't stop until that is met or someone ends up on mental disability status. More help still should be provided if the external environment isn't conducive to success.

Such a basic qualifying education should be a human right, further the right of anything which can think. Graduation from that filter could be a requirement to being a productive and full member of society. I _still_ disagree, that under the exact circumstances outlined above, where the right to that education and the fulfillment of it's mandate are a per-requisite, in that set of circumstances graduating could be a requirement to vote. Proof that someone is a functioning member of society (because otherwise they'd be a pre-adult protected class of society).