Good public schools= more progressive state?

[james&olya 1,121]

I was just wondering after reading on another thread some references to Georgia's poor public schools if there could be a connection between a state having good vs bad public schools and the prevailing political climate right-wing vs left-wing? I have heard before about how bad public schools can be in some southern states. Of course, large cities also tend to have lower quality schools and they tend to vote democratic. Anybody have any ideas or know any statistics on this issue?

[^_^ 5,021]

The correlation is there, but it's weak. Public schools in the old south do the worst... I think that's very predictable. But 'red states' in the midwest do well. Blue states in the NE do well too but California is a giant POS.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

I think the data that is more telling is to look more locally into neighborhoods to see which public schools perform the highest.

[james&olya 1,121]

The correlation is there, but it's weak. Public schools in the old south do the worst... I think that's very predictable. But 'red states' in the midwest do well. Blue states in the NE do well too but California is a giant POS.

California was the home of Ronald Reagan! It was also home to the infamous prop. 13 that severely restricted the ability of school districts to fund local schools with property taxes. It may be less an exception to a pattern than what would initially appear to be the case! With California it might be relevant to do a comparison of schools prior to prop 13 and what exists now.

[Danno 1,228]

I was just wondering after reading on another thread some references to Georgia's poor public schools if there could be a connection between a state having good vs bad public schools and the prevailing political climate right-wing vs left-wing? I have heard before about how bad public schools can be in some southern states. Of course, large cities also tend to have lower quality schools and they tend to vote democratic. Anybody have any ideas or know any statistics on this issue?

IT's no secret that Blacks tend to do poorly on these tests , with the south having so many more blacks the overall scores are naturally going to be low. What would be a more fair comparison would be to compare districts with similar student composition.

if say half of Pennsylvania resembled Philadelphia... how do you imagine that state would score overall?

[^_^ 5,021]

IT's no secret that Blacks tend to do poorly on these tests , with the south having so many more blacks the overall scores are naturally going to be low. What would be a more fair comparison would be to compare districts with similar student composition.

Black=stupid is a a bit self serving (i'm sure it makes you feel better and self esteem is important so more power to you) and misleading. The association tends to be stronger with socio-economic status and not race. Areas in my state where large school districts are middle class and educated and very racially diverse do well while equally racially diverse districts lower on the economic scale do not do well at all. Basically, if you're a black child and your parents are white collar professionals you're probably going to be ok.

As for the south, you can't blame it entirely on black people either. Fact is that the white electorate in the old south has pursued a very deliberate strategy of starving the public school system of funds thereby ensuring that the only people who actually send their kids there are people who can't afford a private option.

Edited May 30, 2012 by \

[Danno 1,228]

Black=stupid is a a bit self serving (i'm sure it makes you feel better and self esteem is important so more power to you) and misleading. The association tends to be stronger with socio-economic status and not race. Areas in my state where large school districts are middle class and educated and very racially diverse do well while equally racially diverse districts lower on the economic scale do not do well at all. Basically, if you're a black child and your parents are white collar professionals you're probably going to be ok.

As for the south, you can't blame it entirely on black people either. Fact is that the white electorate in the old south has pursued a very deliberate strategy of starving the public school system of funds thereby ensuring that the only people who actually send their kids there are people who can't afford a private option.

It would be more helpful if you posted test scores where students within their socio income groups do equally as well....if you really believe this to be the norm.

If Black students tested just 10% lower than white and Asians in these districts with a lot of professional Black parents..... doesn't it stand to reason the more Black students you have the lower the overall score would be?

Every time the test results are released, Blacks typically lag behind no matter what comparable group they are in.

Look I am well aware people don't like to discuss the topic, the knee-jerk responses ...like you made above are the predictable retort, (not that I mind) but if you have some compelling data, which demonstrates "More blacks in a school district DOES NOT drive down test scores"... I would like to see them.

- As for schools being short changed on ed dollars, list the top spending districts and lets see if they are the ones turning out Harvard-ready students.

Here is one such school.

http://www.eastbayexpress.com/gyrobase/rich-black-flunking/Content?oid=1070459&showFullText=true

Edited May 30, 2012 by Danno