Under leftist control, public schools are a disaster. I don't know if Oregon has an equivalency to Washington State's OSPI report card, which details the academic outcomes of our schools.
But I'm sure it's a nightmare if such an online report exists.This is the current copy of the latest reports on academic outcomes here in Washington.
You'd have to be insane or masochistic to send your kids to a state school system that has no requirements to get a worthless high school diploma in order to somehow protect the sensibilities of minorities who fail to perform.
Meanwhile, Oregon continues to punch out fringe-left programmed semi-literate cretins like movie tickets, just like Washington (which just fell behind MISSISSIPPI in academics - schools that spend roughly $6000 LESS per student than we do) and then, leftists ask for a "plan to fix it," as if 1. they were clueless that it's broken and 2. WHY it is broken.
Plan to fix all public schools:
1. End social programming.
Kids go to school for one reason only: academics. Social programing, insane gender issues, mainstreaming mental illness, teaching children to hate their country, hate law enforcement, hate the rich, hate internal combustion engines, hate immigration law enforcement, hate those advocating for actual biological science when it comes to being born male or born female while hating the police should ALL be prohibited.
2. Focus ENTIRELY on academics.
English. Math. Science. Government/Constitution. Shop. Music. Athletics. Home Economics.
This country ranks 31st in the world for academic outcomes. China spends $4200 per student. Our country averages $15,000 to $17,000 per student. "China generally achieves higher foundational test scores and STEM output." In Washington State, the number is $19,341 per student.
To call our academic outcomes here in the Washington Soviet “abysmal” is the understatement.
"China scores significantly higher in international metrics like PISA (Programme[sic] for International Student Assessment), particularly in mathematics, reading, and science within participating regions like Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang. The system emphasizes rote memorization, repetition, and foundational mastery.
United States students typically rank lower on standardized international math and science benchmarks compared to top-performing international cohorts, focusing more on conceptual understanding and student-centered engagement."
We rank lower. You know, on the things that matter most?
There's zero excuses available for ANY country to do better for their students than THIS country... and the issue is NOT money or so-called "underpaid teachers."
3. Hold teachers accountable for their outcomes.
Teachers have been mailing it in for years... decades. Demand accountability for what they produce.
Nationwide, there's horror stories. Baltimore, for example, spends $23,147 per student. Academically, they are among THE worst schools not only in the country, but in the entire 1st world.
It begins and ends with the combination of curriculum and those teaching it.
Try and hold teachers accountable for their end-product (you know, like all the rest of us are held accountable for ours?)
End teacher strikes, which are illegal and extortion. If teachers go on strike, lock them up.
If teachers don't like the pay, benefits, retirement? Then quit and go pump gas. But acting like failed teachers who are far more concerned with offending the sensibilities of those who refuse to do the work over those who actually make an effort, is a nonstarter.
Your value as a teacher is in direct proportion to the product YOU produce.
4. Hold STUDENTS accountable.
END the insanity of providing worthless pieces of paper that many students did NOT work for.
Implement reasonable academic standards to not only graduate, but to pass on to the next grade.
If a student can't read, how does that get better by moving them to the next grade so they can fall behind even more?
Holding failing students back provides some incentive to do the work, an incentive completely absent today because there are no requirements needed to move on to the next grade or even to graduate.
5. Stop blaming parents.
That's the favorite past time of teachers and their fringe-left acolytes.
It's NEVER the teacher’s fault. It's ALWAYS the parent's fault.
To hear them tell it.
I had two high schooler's graduate from Hockinson High School, one with a 3.6 and the other with a 3.1.
They did the work. As parents, we WERE involved. We checked their homework. We helped them to study, gave them tricks and pointers. We were proud of their academic achievement.
And neither one of them could pass the Clark College math placement test. (one has a 4-year degree now from WSU-V. The other did 2 years in college)
Explain it to me like I'm a 6-year-old.
The responsibility for those outcomes rests ENTIRELY on those who taught the subjects and graded the papers.
Not the parents.
___________
There may be, and most likely are, other steps that can be taken. But what Oregon schools are doing now simply does not work. And it's insane to continue to do the same thing, over and over, while expecting a different outcome.
We can do better. Leftist intransigence while the sky actually IS falling is a critical element in the disaster that is not only Oregon’s educational outcomes but those of the entire United States.
We can fix it. But as always, it boils down to this single question: Do we have the will?
