
The problem with education philanthropy - arikr
https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2018/10/30/17862050/education-policy-charity
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markdeloura
If you talk with U.S. educators, you'll find them passionate and
knowledgeable, with strong opinions about how to teach their students best,
yet little flexibility or finances to make any changes. Many of them feel
locked in by tight curriculum standards and a need to teach to the test, so
the result is to just maintain the status quo. Meanwhile we see many countries
around the world pulling ahead in the OECD PISA rankings. Philanthropy can
help through pushing and prodding, exploring new techniques, highlighting new
research, and funding tests and experiments... and there will be failures as
well as successes. But to not strive to improve our education system is
irresponsible - generations benefit from each small increase in capability or
effectiveness. I for one hope that these organizations continue striving to
improve learning for future students. Who else has the resources -- and the
will -- to do it?

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maxxxxx
I think the US needs to learn again to improve exisitng systems. I think
philanthropy is often a way to avoid tackling difficult issues and instead
trying to score some points quickly without changing the system. Whatever the
philanthropy effort come up with is pretty useless or only of use for a few
people if the results that don't actually get implemented in the mainstream.

When I talk to people in the US most of them seem to think that the current
systems are hopeless and can't be improved, be it infrastructure, health or
education.

Philanthropy can help maybe a little but I think it's more important to
improve current systems. You can't just let things for slowly and hope for
billionaires to fix them. They won't.

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nimbius
Coming from a trade-tech perspective, companies like UTI and Lincoln that
claim to offer a course for shop and engine mechanics rarely prove better than
spending a year (or two) at your local city trade college.

For trades its all about your benefits. its the old-timers that move into
teaching. No greybeard wants to hire on at a private school for higher private
rates but ultimately lower benefits. A woman for 40 years experience as a
plumber will choose _lower_ pay at the city college for better health,
retirement, and vacation packages.

The state also wins big again at trade colleges because many of the
instructors have worked 40 years in the largest fleets: city bus or EMS/Police
motor pool. These people are legends in their field and the city goes to great
lengths to keep them around. Private colleges might get the occasional lead
mechanic from Nascar or a pro-racing circuit endorsement, but she hasnt held a
wrench to a normal engine in more than a decade.

lastly its about content. private schools polls industry to see what they
want, and if industry is short on good (cheap) oil change monkeys then thats
most of what youll learn. Old-timers know you'll need more than an oil pan to
bring home a paycheck. Theyll teach you things to make you faster, safer, and
better at all the work you need to do.

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nelsonic
This article makes the case that within the "INT" (Importance, Neglectedness &
Tractability) framework for effective philanthropy, Eduction is neither
neglected nor tractable and that the money being spent by the billionaires is
in some cases "cancelling out" the grassroots movements to improve education.

Yes, Education is undoubtedly an important problem to solve and the "return on
investment" to society is huge, but it's one which already receives
significant investment/budget and throwing more money at the problem is often
counterproductive.

While the article does not mention Finland, I feel it should. Finland has
considerably better education standards than (any state in the) USA by all
measures on PISA
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Programme_for_International_St...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Programme_for_International_Student_Assessment)

In 2014, the U.S. spent an average of $12,157 per student on elementary and
secondary education. see:
[https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/020915/what-
country...](https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/020915/what-country-
spends-most-education.asp) Finland's education budget is €2,100 per capita.
($2,400 USD i.e. less than 20% of the spending!) Spending less money leads to
a _much_ better outcome for students. No billionaires required. Just take the
_profit_ out of education.

Tuition fees are _strictly prohibited by law in Finland. Which means
_everyone_ receives the same standard of education regardless of their
parents/family's financial situation. see:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Finland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Finland)

Why Finland has the Best Education (Michael Moore Doc):
[https://youtu.be/XQ_agxK6fLs](https://youtu.be/XQ_agxK6fLs) Summary: No
homework! All schools are the same standard.

Top 10 Reasons Finland has the World’s Best School System:
[https://youtu.be/zmG4smezeME](https://youtu.be/zmG4smezeME)

Further reading: [https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/why-are-
finlands-s...](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/why-are-finlands-
schools-successful-49859555/)

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throwaway8798
You're conflating two different statistics:

US spending per pupil is $12,300

Finland spending per pupil is $9,800

[https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/pdf/coe_cmd.pdf](https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/pdf/coe_cmd.pdf)

If you want to look at per capita spending, the article says the US spends
about 668 billion, divided by a population of 321 million, you get about $2080
per capita.

So if you're calculating it that way, the US actually spends _less_ per capita
than Finland.

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rglovejoy
> If you want to look at per capita spending, the article says the US spends
> about 668 billion, divided by a population of 321 million, you get about
> $2080 per capita.

> So if you're calculating it that way, the US actually spends _less_ per
> capita than Finland.

Nobody is calculating it that way: the US does not have 321 million
schoolchildren.

~~~
jacobolus
> _Nobody is calculating [education budgets per capita]_

The top-level poster did, in a (hopefully unintentionally) grossly misleading
apples-to-oranges comparison:

> _U.S. spent an average of $12,157 per student [...] Finland 's education
> budget is €2,100 per capita [...] less than 20% of the spending!_

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perseusprime11
There is a general problem with philanthropy in nature. I am always skeptical
of foundations that seem to pay exorbitant salaries to the executives running
the foundation. There’s got to be a better model.

