So, the United States isn’t doing so well educating our kids:
Scores from the 2009 Programme for International Student Assessment to be released Tuesday show 15-year-old students in the U.S. performing about average in reading and science, and below average in math. Out of 34 countries, the U.S. ranked 14th in reading, 17th in science and 25th in math.
And, on top of delivering horrible results, we’re spending more money than ever while watching our performance lag:
…with the exception of Switzerland, the United States spends more than any other country on education, an average of $91,700 per student between the ages of six and fifteen.
That’s not only more than other countries spend but it is also more than better achieving countries spend – the United States spends a third more than Finland, a country that consistently ranks near the top in science, reading, and math testing.
This isn’t new. We’ve known this for a long time now. And, just as long as we’ve been watching spending go up and achievement go down, we’ve been debating how to change one or both of those trajectories. And of all those debates, few have been more contentious than all the others. That subject? That topic?
Choice.
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