Incredible - No liberal bias, huh?

[zimmy]

Originally Posted by scottw

maybe Zimmy's statistics indicate that the government schools and unionized teachers are doing and have been doing a crappy job in preparing North Carolina's children to participate in it's growing economy?


[/B]"

Huh... the other 40 states ahead of NC also have unionized government schools that are performing better. Maybe there are other factors, like uneducated parents with poor analytical skills??? Maybe the anti-intellectual part of some parents rubs off on the kids?

Oh yeah, SAT scores are included, because they give at least a small idea about education in NC, the state that you are raving about the business climate... which doesn't seem to equate to excellent economic indicators for the people in the state. Sure you could figure that out for yourself, though.

[scottw]

Originally Posted by zimmy

Huh... the other 40 states ahead of NC also have unionized government schools that are performing better. Maybe there are other factors, like uneducated parents with poor analytical skills??? Maybe the anti-intellectual part of some parents rubs off on the kids?

sounds racist.....and depends on how you define "performing better"

America is spending more money on education while producing worse outcomes.
Veronique de Rugy from the March 2011 issue

In November the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) released its Program for International Student Assessment scores, measuring educational achievement in 65 countries. The results are depressingly familiar: While students in many developed nations have been learning more and more over time, American 15-year-olds are stuck in the middle of the pack in many fundamental areas, including reading and math. Yet the United States is near the top in education spending.

Using the OECD data, Figure 1 compares K–12 education expenditures per pupil in each of the world’s major industrial powers. With the exception of Switzerland, the U.S. spends the most in the world on education, an average of $91,700 per student in the nine years between the ages of 6 and 15. But the results do not correlate.



"anti-intellectual"

[zimmy]

[QUOTE=scottw;844289]sounds racist.....and depends on how you define "performing better"

[/B]


racist? that's reaching. "performing better" is only related to sat scores, as it says in the post.


The question is why doesn't the great business climate translate to exceptional or even better than average economic standing for the people of NC, instead of the bottom 3rd of the states? I won't pretend to know the answer, but I bet you have one. What are the jobs that are being created?

[detbuch]

Originally Posted by zimmy

racist? that's reaching. "performing better" is only related to sat scores, as it says in the post.


The question is why doesn't the great business climate translate to exceptional or even better than average economic standing for the people of NC, instead of the bottom 3rd of the states? I won't pretend to know the answer, but I bet you have one. What are the jobs that are being created?

It will probably take some time for the Southern States to close economic gaps with Northern States, although they have gained considerably on some of the once heavily industrial ones that are heading toward the crapper. And you're right, there are many complicated factors involved in the forming of "economic standing." The racial/slavery heritage and its culture still lingers in holding down average "indicators." The past drain of educated and talented Southerners to States that offered jobs that weren't traditionally to be found in the South is a factor as well. But that may be changing, and if business sees a growing opportunity to settle in lower tax, lesser unionized States, things may change more rapidly. North Carolina ranks in the upper third in percentage growth of per capita income for the period 1980-2009, and is in the upper half of States with lower cost of living index. So life is not as harsh as your indicators might imply. No doubt that old cultural attitudes may hold back SAT scores, but those can rise as more jobs are captured from the North and opportunities attract and promote a different "culture." As for education being a key to higher income, there is a correlation that may suffer from the diminishing returns of investing in it. The greater the percentage of educated, the less the economic importance of education. And the more disparity in the percentage of educated the greater is the importance of education. Washington DC had by far the greatest percentage of growth of per capita income between 1980-2009 than all of the States, yet it's school system is the most pathetic.