K-12 education is about the most decentralized government function there is in America. Each town and each state makes its own standard and policy. I remember reading somewhere federal money is only 12 or 15% of the budget and its influence is pretty minor. You would think that with each town and state experimenting on its own, we should have a Singapore or two in our 50 states. Instead we are pretty much mediocre across the board.
For people blaming other races mind you that lily white states like Iowa also sucks compared to Singapore or Hong Kong. I donât think diversity is a huge minus. It may present some challenges but itâs oversold as an excuse.
I think the reason is more deeply rooted. Itâs very jarring to have pretty meh K-12 and then have the absolute best of the best in college and beyond.
In Singapore, pensions are âforcefullyâ removed⌠is a financial liability for the nation, for the taxpayers. Of course, pay them more upfront⌠they lost the backend pension and medical benefits. Life expectancy is increasing at an alarming rate making pensions very expensive.
Geez, even though school was not that bad for me, I actually can imagine how this young man must have felt. SadâŚthis certainly entered my mind when I was thinking about having a child. It is so ultra competitive here that I would hate for a kid to have to go through all thatâŚ
We also have kids killing themselves in US. Not a unique phenomenon in China. Something we have here that they donât in China: school bullies. Iâve never heard Chinese kids killing themselves because of bulling. Oh, of course they donât have Columbine and Sandy Hook either.
Of course, Palo Alto and those Caltrain suicides by teens come to mind. At the end of the day is it really worth it to drive your child to commit suicide, parents? Most of my friends who âsufferedâ along with me in school def did not turn into Tiger parents themselves which I am happy about.
I guess nothing comes for free.
Although S.Korea achieved great score/spending ratio (BTW, is there really good correlation between spending and math score in general? Math is pretty cheap to learn unlike sports or music instrument. All you need is a good book and time to think.), it is achieved at the expense of happiness of childhood (except a few who genuinely enjoy math.).
Suicide rate in S.Korea is the highest among all OECD countries.
I guess it lost its good balance between competition and happiness.
BTW, common core curriculum is hopeless in my opinion.
Haha. This is a big topic with a lot of passion on either side. So far I am only exposed to 1st grade material. Itâs OK so far.
I recently bumped into this old paper by William Thurston. He won the Fields Medal so he knew something about math I am sure. He thought a major problem in K-12 math education is because there is zero communication between math teachers in K-12 and professional mathematicians.
Adjusted for purchasing power US is spending less than Singapore. But of course Singapore gets way more bang for their bucks.
It points out that among poorer countries the amount of public spending per pupil is associated with higher test scores. But in richer states that spend more than about $50,000 per pupil in total between 6 and 15 this link falls away (see chart 2). The pupils of Poland and Denmark have, in effect, the same average results in the science tests even though Denmark spends about 50% more per pupil.
upfront⌠they lost the backend pension 
and medical benefits. Life expectancy is increasing at an alarming rate 
making pensions very expensive.