What Happens When Each US State Is Renamed According to Its Education Level

[Sunstone]

Homesnacks.com used information from the U.S. high school graduation rates from the U.S. Census and compared them against the education index of each country from the United Nations Development Program.

The result? A map of the U.S. with each state renamed as the country that resembles their level of education.

The Northwest is definitely the most diverse, and Colorado stands out in particular. The Centennial State matched the education level of the Netherlands, which is ahead of the U.S. in the education index. Colorado also ranked number two — just behind Massachusetts — as the state with the overall best school system in the nation, according to Wallethub.

Wallethub also found that no[t] surprisingly, schools with the highest spending on education had better school systems, while those that didn't invest as much in education saw a dip in school quality. [emphasis mine]

>>>snip<<<

So despite being the seventh richest nation in the world, why do U.S. schools lag behind? It's clear that some states are on par with countries that are much, much more economically burdened.

One reason is America's repeated failure to invest in education. According to the US News, federal funding for education has fallen drastically. Congress has cut funding for K-12 education by nearly 20 percent since 2011—five times more than overall spending cuts.

>>>snip<<<

It's evident that the U.S. has the resources to succeed, but changes have to occur in funding and curriculum for it to move up in rank.

[Click here to see the quote's source, and also to view map of states renamed after countries with equivalent educational systems. The full article is well worth reading.]

Why do you think so many states lag behind in basic (primary and secondary) education?

Do you think increased funding and changes in the curriculum would have a significant impact?

Why do you suppose politicians are cutting funding to schools at a rate five times that of other spending cuts?

Are you familiar with the for-profit charter school movement being financed by several billionaires? If so, what do you make of it?

 

[Guy Threepwood]

[Click here to see the quote's source, and also to view map of states renamed after countries with equivalent educational systems. The full article is well worth reading.]

Why do you think so many states lag behind in basic (primary and secondary) education?

Do you think increased funding and changes in the curriculum would have a significant impact?

Why do you suppose politicians are cutting funding to schools at a rate five times that of other spending cuts?

Are you familiar with the for-profit charter school movement being financed by several billionaires? If so, what do you make of it?

Interesting, a general reverse correlation between education spending and actual jobs being created..

 

[Sunstone]

Interesting, a general reverse correlation between education spending and actual jobs being created..

Those stats are potentially greatly misleading both since they do not specify the quality of jobs created and because they cover too brief of a period. For instance, the above average job growth in Georgia might be primarily in low paying service jobs while the below average job growth in California during the same brief period might be in high paying tech industry jobs. Do you have any stats more valuable than those?

 

[LuisDantas]

Why do you suppose politicians are cutting funding to schools at a rate five times that of other spending cuts?

Ultimately, because voters are politically immature. Otherwise they would not allow that.

But also because education is a medium-term investiment and lacks the political cloud that the financial and military lobbies have.

Another significant, but little-mentioned factor is the rising anti-intellectual wave. A very real yet undermentioned downside of investing in education is that it creates internal unease in a society, as people of different generations and/or social levels see their gap in educational situation widen.

That is one reason why the highly individualistic USA does not benefit from its investiments as much as one would otherwise expect from comparisons with several Scandinavian and Asian countries. The very people who received the education feel a measure of a need to hold back in order not to aggravate the gap with their friends and family. The result is a society that clings to superstition and fear of knowledge because they have come to associate learning with estrangement.

Finland's policy of ensuring the most equal learning possible is very wise.

Are you familiar with the for-profit charter school movement being financed by several billionaires? If so, what do you make of it?

No, I am not, but the description sure sounds eerie.

 

[Sunstone]

The very people who received the education feel a measure of a need to hold back in order not to aggravate the gap with their friends and family. The result is a society that clings to superstition and fear of knowledge because they have come to associate learning with estrangement.

I think there's significant truth to that -- not only with Americans in general, but also I've read studies of specific ethnic groups that discourage education precisely because they feel that it estranges families.

 

[Guy Threepwood]

Those stats are potentially greatly misleading both since they do not specify the quality of jobs created and because they cover too brief of a period. For instance, the above average job growth in Georgia might be primarily in low paying service jobs while the below average job growth in California during the same brief period might be in high paying tech industry jobs. Do you have any stats more valuable than those?

Obviously there are other factors, like this..

Very similar pattern- as well as lower job growth- in the high tax & spend states, your pay doesn't go nearly as far , just like Norway, Sweden, Luxembourg etc

 

[LuisDantas]

I think there's significant truth to that -- not only with Americans in general, but also I've read studies of specific ethnic groups that discourage education precisely because they feel that it estranges families.

I think and expect that to be a general trend. Education is such a boon that it can't very well help but cause estrangement, alas.

Edited to add: another IMO important and little noted consequence is the growing mischaracterization and confusion about the role of education. It is often understood to be a beeline towards better acess to higher pay and/or better choice of jobs, with the education proper being almost relegated to an afterthought.

That makes true academical courses become more of a niche and over-values what I will call "career-oriented" courses such as Law and MBAs.

Such courses are of comparative lesser intellectual significance and have higher expected financial return. Both factors make them far less of a bitter pill for families and social acceptance, but the drawback is that the significance of education proper is all but forgotten. Prestige and wealth, not technical and academic competence, become the goals and even the ideals.

 

[Sunstone]

Obviously there are other factors, like this..

Very similar pattern- as well as lower job growth- in the high tax & spend states, your pay doesn't go nearly as far , just like Norway, Sweden, Luxembourg etc

Your source is "online accounting-degrees,net"? Come on! There must be plenty better sources.

 

[Mycroft]

Surely West Virginia would be 'ajkagdajshgja'?

 

[Zardoz]

Labeling Illinois 'Romania' is an insult... to Romania!!

 

[RRex]

I'm sorry - What a crock of .

More manipulated statistics. Wonderful.

Addressing the subject of the OP, of course.

 

[lewisnotmiller]

I'm sorry - What a crock of .

More manipulated statistics. Wonderful.

Addressing the subject of the OP, of course.

I'm confused. Are you defending the US education system, the privatisation of it, and the trend downwards in budgetary investment?

 

[Revoltingest]

Woo hoo!
I live in Thailand!
Daughter thought it was great there.

 

[RRex]

I'm confused. Are you defending the US education system, the privatisation of it, and the trend downwards in budgetary investment?

I don't agree with the graphic and where it puts the state I live in.

I agree that education in the US is in the toilet. They're so busy teaching their stinking politics they've forgotten about the "3 R's", et al.

I come from an era when we learned significantly more material in school with a minimum of investment. Money is not the problem. Privatization won't help if agendas continue to interfere with legitimate curricula.

 

[lewisnotmiller]

I don't agree with the graphic and where it puts the state I live in.

Fair enough. I don't have much of an opinion on the specific state commentary, personally. I have a strong interest in education models (ex-teacher for one thing), but thats more at a macro level in terms of US policy.

I agree that education in the US is in the toilet. They're so busy teaching their stinking politics they've forgotten about the "3 R's", et al.

Hmm...not sure about the 3 r's specifically, but I think schools are used as some sort of culture carrier. As you say, this certainly opens it up to use as some sort of political football. I'd argue that this has always happened, but that doesnt make it a positive thing.

I come from an era when we learned significantly more material in school with a minimum of investment. Money is not the problem. Privatization won't help if agendas continue to interfere with legitimate curricula.

Money IS a problem. But throwing money at the problem (even if that were being done) doesn't offer a solution. Effective planning comes first, then determination of funding required. Too often we (since Australia has some similar issues to the US) tackle things in reverse order.

Anyways, thanks for the clarification. Sounds like our thoughts aren't TOO dis-similar.

 

[RRex]

Fair enough. I don't have much of an opinion on the specific state commentary, personally. I have a strong interest in education models (ex-teacher for one thing), but thats more at a macro level in terms of US policy.



Hmm...not sure about the 3 r's specifically, but I think schools are used as some sort of culture carrier. As you say, this certainly opens it up to use as some sort of political football. I'd argue that this has always happened, but that doesnt make it a positive thing.



Money IS a problem. But throwing money at the problem (even if that were being done) doesn't offer a solution. Effective planning comes first, then determination of funding required. Too often we (since Australia has some similar issues to the US) tackle things in reverse order.

Anyways, thanks for the clarification. Sounds like our thoughts aren't TOO dis-similar.

I'd like to add one thought. I went through K-12 in the 60's/70's. I can tell you definitively that there were no politics in the classroom.

 

[Revoltingest]

I'd like to add one thought. I went through K-12 in the 60's/70's. I can tell you definitively that there were no politics in the classroom.

You weren't in Ann Arbor then.
Criminy, it was annoying.

 

[lewisnotmiller]

I'd like to add one thought. I went through K-12 in the 60's/70's. I can tell you definitively that there were no politics in the classroom.

You can tell me that, but i completely disagree. I guess we can leave it at that, although I'm happy to discuss if you want to.

I would say that I think the nature of the political connection has changed. Also, my eldest daughter is currently going through school, but would not identify many things as political in nature despite them clearly being so. The eyes of a child are not usually looking for deeper connections and connotations (ironically, this is a key reason schools are so often used as political change agents).

 

[RRex]

I grew up in a household where politics and unions were discussed every night at the dinner table. My parents were union reps.

I never heard politics in the classrooms I was in.

 

[Sunstone]

Obviously there are other factors, like this..

Very similar pattern- as well as lower job growth- in the high tax & spend states, your pay doesn't go nearly as far , just like Norway, Sweden, Luxembourg etc

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016...l&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Of course, in the larger picture, getting a job and economic growth are only one of the purposes of education.