jaleh - February 21, 2011 | 1:09 pm · LinkThis is interesting:
Only five states do not allow collective bargaining for educators. Those states and their ranking on ACT/SAT scores: South Carolina, 50th; North Carolina, 49th; Georgia, 48th; Texas, 47th; Virginia, 44th. Wisconsin, with its collective bargaining for teachers, is 2nd.
From Balloon Juice.
I won't comment on any correlation between the two data points. I will say that Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa have tremendous educational success. I was in Iowa one summer when the College Board released the annual SAT scores for states. That year, Iowa slipped from first to third, behind the other two. There was much wailing and gnashing of teeth in that article. One thing which bothers me is how Republicans look to Texas and other Southern states when they look for examples for economic growth, but they have some pretty poor characteristics also. It may get pretty damn cold in the winter, but I'd relocate to the Upper Midwest if I were ever forced to move from Ohio. I'll never move south of the Ohio River unless there is some disaster which makes living north of the river impossible. Unfortunately, the Republican party is trying to bring the government from the South to the North. No thanks.
The South will rise again!, just not through education. I found an article from Ball State that refutes the accuracy of ranking states by SAT scores. The states with the lowest scores are testing a higher percentage of students than states with higher scores. Sara suggests that encouraging every student to attend a four year university is a waste of time and effort. Trade schools and technical colleges are a better option for many students. Unfortunately, universities are not in the business of turning away potential profit generators (students).
ReplyDeletehttp://www.bsu.edu/news/article/0,1370,-1019-3500,00.html
The north will be dragged down to the level of the south before the south rises. There are some variations by state between whether ACT or SAT tests are taken by students, but all the numbers I've seen show better scores in the Upper Midwest than most of the rest of the country. I stand by the position I am not moving south, ever.
ReplyDeleteAlso, you've been to South Carolina and Wisconsin. Who do you think has the edge?
ReplyDelete