Texas is seeing record numbers of students going to homeschooling
@valleyforge Doesn't sound good to me. Homeschooling is limited by the parents' knowledge I have the idea. And not every parent is smart. In fact, it could be a downwards spiral. Unless it's something different here?
@trinsec There are lots of group homeschool organizations where parents work together and have sports and stuff. I'm not very familiar with how those work although I'm sure there's lots of variance between them. Homeschool systems will probably be less effective at getting kids to memorize facts but I don't think that's what's important.
@valleyforge Considering the political climate over there, and that people don't seem to be able to think things through lately... I think it's a little bit more important than people realize. Of course, it'd require actual funding of education, which seems to be a bit of a problem somehow worldwide.
@trinsec why does test taking have to do with the "political climate"?
@valleyforge Well my understanding goes along like this:
If you're homeschooled, you basically don't really learn how to deal with a diverse amount of people. Those homeschool organizations likely will search likeminded people together. You won't learn about other cultures, other attitudes, etc. You're going to get stuck in your own bubble.
If you aren't really aware of how other people and/or cultures behave or react, and only see confirmation bias from your own peers, you're going to be quite stuck in your way of thinking. Your will becomes inflexible. This, in turn, can polarize a society if you're not willing to listen to other people's views.
This is Texas we're talking about. From what I read in the news about it, that's already quite a conservative state. So if those children/students are going to be homeschooled, that could be a downwards spiral right there in terms of accepting 'people who are not like you' in future generations.
So, possibly more polarization oncoming. It can become a toxic political climate for the whole country if this isn't done carefully.
@trinsec The US has almost the highest education funding per capita in the world. Second only to Luxembourge
https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/sites/5e4ecc25-en/index.html?itemId=/content/component/5e4ecc25-en
https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/education-rankings-by-country
@trinsec Maybe your country should consider investing in education?
@valleyforge I see those statistics, but you seem to be hung up on comparing to other countries and then result in saying 'See, we spend more, so we're not that bad.'
However, it is not that simple. You spend more, but what is the actual education like? Is it adjusted for modern times? Or are they just 'memorization factories'? Are teachers getting paid their fair share? Or are they just one of many and easily replaced?
Seeing you considered public schools to be a place for just 'memorizing facts', it seems that USA's schools are apparently not that good as they ought to be. You'll have to fund them, but 'throwing money at them' is not going to solve the core essence of the problem. Your statistics clearly demonstrate that.
If you don't mind a bit of a read, this 2018 Guardian article is actually showing nicely what I can't word properly. Including some statistics comparing to other countries, since that seems to be preferred by you. USA spends more money, but somehow isn't miles ahead proportionally.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/sep/07/us-education-spending-finland-south-korea
But you are absolutely right. My country needs to invest more in education. We are slowly heading towards the American model and are starting to see a decline. That is why our teachers were on strike so much the previous year.
@valleyforge Regarding the downside you mention, that is what I meant with having to fund education. Classes bigger than 15 I consider too big as well.
I did grow up in a public school, and our classes averaged 5. Granted, it was a special school, but I learned a lot. I feel like non-hearing people also deserve to have classes of max 15 pupils.
A good school also doesn't 'let their students memorize' and nothing else. It lets their students think critically so they can get to a logical conclusion on their own.
But again, that requires funding. And USA is sadly not very well known for funding education. I'd say, start funding the basis. Vote for your kids' future. Homeschooling is a symptom, not a solution.