> On Dec 26, 2010, at 6:39 PM, Bill Pearce wrote:
>
>> The thing that once made America great, is our system of universal public
>> education. The fall of that system is going to lead to our downfall.
> From: Nathan Wajsman <photo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>
> You must be joking, Bill. Many things made America great, but the public
> school system is not one of them, unless you are fortunate enough to live in
> a place with good schools. My son was born in Tampa in 1989. The public
> schools there were so terrible that anyone who cared about their children's
> well being found a way to avoid them...
Don't let me put words in your mouse, Bill, but I think he was referring to a
hundred years ago rather than twenty.
> The US has the world's best universities...
Not so sure about that -- guess it depends on how you define "best." If it's
"best education at any cost," then I suppose you're right. But there are
probably many metrics by which US universities would not be on top.
I note that as a percentage of GDP, the US is #37, and Cuba is #1. (Indeed, for
the money, Cuba is arguably the best place to get a medical education, but you
are *required* to spend two years afterwards working in a third-world
country... imagine how many blue-blood Harvard med school grads would put up
with such a requirement... or even "ordinary" med school grads -- they're too
worried about paying off their student loans.)
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/edu_edu_spe-education-spending-of-gdp
----------------
For every thousand hacking at the leaves of evil, there is one striking at the
root. -- Henry David Thoreau
:::: Jan Steinman, EcoReality Co-op ::::
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