Kamala Harris just exposed the truth about education in America.
It’s all about the Benjamins.
Let’s be clear. When students don’t show up for class, schools don’t get funded. Sure, Leftists want us to believe that schools concern themselves with educating children. But if that’s the case, show me the results.
Bureaucrats disguise the sinister goal of education by highlighting a few good results. Kamala Harris brags about her results.
The woman who slept her way to political power wants you to believe her education did this for her.
And in the video above, Harris brags about the power of an Attorney General:
Partial transcript:
HARRIS: “So, to that end, on my letterhead — now, let me tell you something about my letterhead. When you’re the DA of a major city in this country, usually the job comes with a badge. And there is often an artistic rendering of said badge on your stationery. So, I sent a letter out on my letterhead to every parent in the school district, outlining the connection that was statistically proven between elementary school truancy, high school dropouts, who will become a victim of crime, and who will become a perpetrator or crime. We sent it out to everyone. a friend of mine actually called me and he said, Kamala, my wife got the letter. She freaked out. She brought all the kids into the living room, held up the letter, said if you don’t go to school, Kamala is going to put you and me in jail.
(laughter)
Yes, we achieved the intended effect.”
The intended effect? Intimidation.
Now kids go to school, the business of education gets its money, and all is well. Except for students.
Nationally, America’s education system is a disgrace. As Observer reported,
A new wave of attacks on American student performance has emerged from both liberals and conservatives. These are fueled by a battery of international tests that compare the United States’ students to those in the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries, as well as several East Asian countries and cities. The results appear to show America falling behind in key subjects.
“We throw more money at our schools than just about any other country, and what do we get? For our K-12 school system, an honorary membership in the Third World,” writes Professor F. H. Buckley in a Fox News opinion column. Buckley, who teaches at George Mason University, added, “Not long ago, we had a superb public school system, but now we trail most countries. In math, we’re 38thin the world among developed countries in terms of how 15 year-olds perform. And it’s getting worse, not better.”
Here’s where USA Today ranked California, Harris’ home state:
35. California
- High school graduation rate: 83.0% (21st lowest)
- Public school spending: $9,417 per pupil (8th lowest)
- 8th grade NAEP proficiency: 27.1% (math) 28.4% (reading)
- Adults with at least a bachelor’s degree: 32.9% (14th highest)
- Adults 25-64 with incomes at or above national median: 51.7% (21st highest)
California has the largest network of public schools in the country — and also one of the worst-performing. Only 29.2% of fourth graders in the state are proficient in math, and only 27.8% are proficient in reading — each the third lowest share of any state. While low, the fourth-grade reading proficiency rate is much improved from only a few years ago. Between 2003 and 2015, fourth-grade reading proficiency increased by 7.0 percentage points, far outpacing the 4.9 percentage point improvement across the U.S. as a whole.
Children who are raised speaking English as a second language often face additional academic challenges at American public schools. Only 64.1% of California students have parents who are fluent English speakers, the smallest share of any state in the country.
Keep in mind, these are stats with “educators” fudging the stats. Imagine what the stats really are.
But before you beat up on California, let’s take a look at the #1 state.
1. Massachusetts
- High school graduation rate: 87.5% (13th highest)
- Public school spending: $14,569 per pupil (11th highest)
- 8th grade NAEP proficiency: 50.8% (math) 45.7% (reading)
- Adults with at least a bachelor’s degree: 42.7% (the highest)
- Adults 25-64 with incomes at or above national median: 62.6% (the highest)
Massachusetts has the nation’s best schools, according to the latest EdWeek ranking of state public education systems. Even top-ranked states in education do not necessarily lead uniformly in the three categories measured — chances of success, school finance, and achievements — but Massachusetts does.
Parent education levels, for example, which are among the best predictors of student success, are among the highest in Massachusetts. Of children in the state, 63.4% have at least one parent with a college degree, the fourth highest such share of all states. Per-pupil spending in the state, at $14,569, while not in the top 10 is still well above the national average per-pupil expenditure of $12,526. Also, overall K-12 student achievement in Massachusetts is better than in any other state. Half or more of fourth and eighth graders in Massachusetts are proficient in math. For reference, only about 39% of fourth graders and 32% of eighth graders nationwide are proficient in math.
Understand what you are looking at with these stats. Like “graduation rate”.
In many cases, graduating students can’t read or do basic math. But Leftists love their meaningless and very fake stats.
What is NAEP proficiency?
When reviewing the results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), it is helpful to understand how student performance is reported. Since NAEP is not designed to report results for individual students or schools, it is not necessary for every student in the nation to take the assessment. Instead, NAEP is administered to a sample of students in grades 4, 8, and 12, who represent the student population of the nation, states, and districts.
Why is NAEP complete bullsh*t? Because teachers handpick students to take this test. The lie of “randomness” is ridiculous, and here’s why I know.
When it came time to take this test for my youngest son, an A-student, teachers asked him to take it; randomly of course.
I asked him who else was “randomly” selected, and the answer was shocking. All the best students in each grade has been “randomly” selected.
So understand that even with the top students selected–yes, at every school–the proficiency still hovers at only 50 percent.
Can you imagine buying anything with a 50/50 chance that it would be any good? A TV? Your next car? But we apply none of this logic to our education system.
Back to Kamala Harris
Bragging about forcing parents into this system should get you impeached. But that’s not how Leftism works. So now Harris sets her sights on running for president. Think any Leftist organization will question her threats to the parents? What about the outcome for students based on her threats? Are California schools any better under her scrutiny as Attorney General?
Of course they aren’t. But that won’t stop Harris from bragging about intimidation and producing no results. For that is the Leftist way.
