<p>LOL! What’s funny is that I saw the subject heading and thought, oy, if I open this up, it will probably put Vermont at the bottom and so my eyes popped out when it was the opposite! </p>
<p>OK, sorry, now I have read the criteria. Well, per pupil spending IS high. Yes, we have small class sizes. One thing we don’t have on that list is high teacher salaries! </p>
<p>By the way, a big part of evaluation of students even on the state level here is through portfolios, not just TESTS.</p>
<p>These rankings can be fun to read, but as with any ranking system, we probably wouldn’t all agree on what counts toward the rank. Out of the 21 categories, several dealt with expenditures and salaries. If your don’t buy into the correlation between $$$ spent and academic success, this survey is flawed. Some of the absolute worst elementary school teachers in my town earn six figures, for example. Tenure gives them a teflon skin, and each year their guaranteed salary increase and longevity pay bonus goes higher and higher.</p>
<p>I have no idea how valid this study is, but let me just say that it is nice to see California beat out Mississippi in their rather heated race to claim the title of the 47th smartest state in America:</p>
<p>In your face Mississippi! </p>
<p>The wealthiest Blue state on earth edges out the poorest Red state on earth to be the 47th smartest state in the nation. Now thats saying something.</p>
<p> Total facial!</p>
<p>[overheard in a San Francisco Salon whilst patrons rumble over lathered cups of Latte-sompin-sompin: thank god for Mississippi. Indeed.] </p>
<p>…sorry, the temptation was simply too great.</p>
<p>What’s really shocking, is that California, once considered an state educational powerhouse, is ranked at 47! Assuming that there’s SOME logic or credence to this survey, I wonder what went so horribly wrong? One thing that I suspect may have had a major impact on California’s educational decline, is its unchecked influx of illegal immigrants. The burden of providing EASL curricula to the children of these immigrants must represent an ever increasing fiscal strain on the state’s budgit. Regardless of whatever other tax contributions illegals may make to the California economy, they are undoubtedly far less likely to be contributing to education costs via real estate taxes. If it wasn’t for the tax revenue of California’s slew of luxury estates (whose owners overwhelmingly send their darlings to private schools), the deficit would probably be even more alarming.</p>
<p>I have used morganquitno as a source in some other research I did a few years ago on the right-to-work law. I am really surprised to see Idaho at 20. The teachers there are some of the lowest paid in the country and in our experience almost none of our sons’ teachers (public school) had a degree above a BA. We moved to WA over the summer and have one son in HS and one in middle school (public). There are several teachers in their schools who have their masters, I was surprised to learn. They are also paid better.
Interesting!</p>
<p>By the same token, this survey is saying that my state (Vermont) is smart (based on criteria to do with the public schools), yet when it comes to college admissions, most adcoms never heard of our HS, that’s for sure. You won’t find our schools on that list (sorry I forget who put it out, USNews?) of top ranked high schools! </p>
<p>Then again, to be fair, a while back, when my kids were in elementary school, our elementary school won a National Blue Ribbon Award. But above I was really talking the high schools and most colleges never heard of 'em, at least not ours.</p>
<p>So sad for California! We have this great weather going on but not a whole lot else to recommend us. My kids say they will not spend their adult lives here.</p>
<p>I left California over 20 years ago and (besides my relatives who stubbornly remain) don’t miss a thing.</p>
<p>The education started unravelling there with Prop 13 back in the 70’s. Class sizes shot up, services were cut, etc. When the economy tanked in the '90s more hits. </p>
<p>The people who are having children there are not the ones able to pay the taxes to improve the schools, so nothing seems to be done about it locally. The state finances seem to go hot and cold, with no real long term tradition or strategy.</p>
<p>It is no news that the top ranked educational areas are concentrated in the NE and northern plains states. The southern states were actually a bit of a surpise, because most surveys have them grouped in the 40-50th place range. I’d place them in the 60-70th personally if they could. LOL I guess the are saved by the stats reporting the percentage of wealth spent on education. When you don’t have much, your ration looks good. I think those stats also doomed states like California and Alaska and Hawaii, where nominal wealth is high, but high cost of living makes that wealth an illusion.</p>
<p>Thirty years ago California had above average per-pupil funding for K-12 education. Now we are reportedly 46th in funding on a cost of living adjusted basis.</p>
<p>Maybe you can’t solve every problem by throwing money at it, but you can be pretty sure you can create one by taking money away.</p>
<p>But of course, it’s really the fault of those latte sipping San Francisco liberals, right?</p>
<p>that must be why washington is ranked low
we don’t spend a lot on education ( even less if you disregard money for administration), although the Seattle area has the highest numbers of adults with college degrees and we certainly are well read!</p>
<p>lol sorry but statstically the red states are definitely not supposed to be in the upper ranks
it seems bush just had to dish out more money to those poor mentall underpriveledged and disadvantaged kids down south.
(no offense to u southerners)</p>