[Maceman]

According to the latest international rating of education in 65 countries, American public schools are in a free fall.

Gee, what a surprise:

In 2010, Barack Obama called for fixing the public education system by giving us the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and “Race to the Top,”

which he said would fix the education system already fixed by the 2001 GW Bush and Ted Kennedy legislation called “No Child Left Behind,”

which was supposed to fix a system supposedly already fixed by a 1994 piece of federal legislation called “Goals 2000,”

which was supposed to fix a system already fixed by “America 2000,”

which was a 1991 response during the Bush administration to a 1983 federal report on education called “A Nation at Risk,

which was published a full four years after Jimmy Carter first fixed the nation’s public school system by establishing a cabinet-level Department of Education in 1979.

[Qiviut]

The test population is 15-year-old students who are tested on their critical thinking and problem-solving capabilities in mathematics, science and reading.

*************************************************

We’re well on our way to promulgating a population of “low info” everything. This is what happens when ‘education’ has become indoctrination and the heavy hand of big government and unions are shaping what the kids get at school, even intruding down to the level of their food amount/choices, which is ridiculous. The only upside I see is that kids who are home schooled do exceptionally well and and their numbers are growing as public education is failing. Perhaps they will end up flourishing, excelling, and eventually “in charge” at which point the morals, values and ethics they’ve been taught by their parents, along with their critical thinking skills and common sense, might do some good in trying to turn the country around.

[BitWielder1]

It's by design.
Every time the feds launches a new program it gets worse.

[Jim Noble]

American public schools ARE abysmal, but PISA comparisons are very misleading.

This is the only country that places (essentially) all 15 year olds in an academic track school.

If you compared white and East Asian honors track students with these other countries (which is the proper comparator group) we would score much higher.

[txrefugee]

They’d rather belong to their chosen gangs than stay in school. But the government will reward the good students by taking money out of their paychecks to support the numerous offspring of the irresponsible drop outs. Drop outs vote Democrat. Some reward.

[Caipirabob]

FEDEWA: American schools are failing!

Of course they are. Education and a keen awareness of history are essential to freedom where ignorance is the abyss of slavery and essential to the socialist democrat party.

[EinNYC]

For one thing, the liberal-mandated bowing down to the student and not doing anything to "upset" them--like enforcing discipline in the classroom--has produced students with the attitude "kiss my @___" to their teachers. They have often told me, "I don't want to do the assignment" and then proceed merrily to continue texting or sleeping or reading a novel. If you try to enforce discipline in the classroom, your wonderful students will simply fabricate a story that you touched them inappropriately, said something sexual or racial to them, etc. in an attempt to get you fired. There are even Youtube videos by students for other students "How to Get Your Teacher Fired". Students are always believed over teachers.

The intense pressure from above to pass students who absolutely do not deserve to pass also enforces the correct perception that they really DON'T have to do much in the way of work to get a passing grade.

The CAPITULATION to laziness and "inevitable failure" results in the extreme lowering of the bar and dumbing down of courses.

Failing schools? Failing students? No mystery there.

[monocle]

Will illegal immigrants remedy this problem? /s

[nonliberal]

I couldn't disagree more. Government schools were set up to educate/indoctrinate students to the point where they can barely hold down a job and pay taxes but not to the point where they become a threat to the ruling class.

Government schools have been an amazing success because they have achieved EXACTLY what they were set up to do.

[jamaksin]

"A Nation at Risk: The Imperative of Educational Reform" circa April 1983.

The decline continues apace.

Nothing new here, move along.

Consider today's Common Core as a repeat of the New Math from the 1960s.

[Count of Monte Fisto]

If you removed the test scores of black and hispanic “students” then American schools would be in the top ten.

[elpadre]

American schools began their downward spiral with the advent of the US Department of Education. The record is clear.

[wintertime]

This is news?

[evilC]

If you break out the results by racial and ethnic groups (a fairer comparison) the United States does quite well: White students in the US do well compared to students in White countries (or White students in other countries, as there are few entirely White countries left); Asian students in the US do well compared to students in Asian countries; Mexican students in the US do well compared to Mexicans at home; African Americans in the US do well compared to Africans in Africa.

What we have is more of a diversity problem than an education problem.

[headsonpikes]

The public schools are the greatest achievement of American Socialism; it is successful beyond the dreams of its founders.

[Monitor]

Someone once posted an article which delved deeper into America’s PISA data. Long story short, except for one racial subgroup, America’s PISA scores are near the top internationally. It is one racial subgroup who’s PISA scores are going from bad to worse, and dragging down the country’s average.