re: I'm convinced education's steep decline began and continues today for 3 main reasons!

Budgets aren't shrinking. However, like in hospitals, administrative positions are expanding at ridiculous levels. So, our money is being spent far less efficiently. Couple that with a lack of accountability from top to bottom, passing kids just to pass them, and family's not giving a flip about their kids, and you have what we have today.

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I bet if you were to drill down into the data, funding would have some correlation with education levels.

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It doesn't. Education levels are purely a result of demographics.

Utah is dead last in school funding per pupil, but ranks 13th in public school quality.

Per pupil spending by state

Utah school systems ranked 13th best in the United States

There are many such examples.

I just knew the fist answer, no matter what, from a boomer like you was god in the class room blah blah blah

Classic Western Education

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bet if you were to drill down into the data, funding would have some correlation with education levels

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Except they don't. Has your head been in the sand the last 3 decades? Are you not American? Federal funding has exploded. Many poorer majority-minority school districts have the highest per pupil funding $ in the entire world and still produce results similar to poorer countries.

Most of you brilliantly illustrated the fact that you know nothing about what goes on in schools.
1 in 100 Americans exhibit characteristics of psychopathy.
1 in 25 Americans exhibit characteristics of antisocial personality disorder.

In the past, children who who fell under these two categories were removed from classrooms. They were the ones "left behind". Today, we are told to not only accept these children, but that they should in no way be punished for their behavior. School districts have gone to zero-suspension/expulsion policies, re-enforced by SPS grading that takes suspensions/expulsions into account as a negative. The absolute horrendously violent and abusing behavior from many students is what has driven so many teachers from the profession.

Perfect example. An administrator at my school was attacked two years ago by a student. Thankfully, the student was small and female, so the (also female) admin was able to keep the girl at bay until help arrived. This girl literally climbed over the admin's desk to get at her. District admins refused to support expulsion over the incident. The girl was suspended and returned to school three days later. She was involved in at least four fights throughout the rest of the school year, as well as several incidents of cyberbullying. Again, no expulsion recommendation. The following year was a repeat: Run-ins with teachers, fights, bullying. This past school year she was finally expelled when she was caught with a large amount of drugs on campus. My understanding is that the school district excused her expulsion and allowed her to attend her home school.

I teach at a highly rated school. We don't have many students that act in this manner. A "traditional" school, that takes all students in an attendance zone, is going to have dozens of these students. Imagine a classroom where you have students that refuse to work, threaten violence, curse you out in the hallway, and systematically mentally torture adults and children alike. There is zero support from administrators at the school or district level. Psychologists and doctors, with very little factual evidence, assign disorders that excuse every bad behavior. Now tell me how "teachers are the problem".

(Example of systematic mental torture. I know a former teacher who was involved in an incident were a person was killed. Not going into details. It didn't involve school, and the teacher was not found to be at fault. When her students found out about it, a group of them made comments every day. They wrote shite on her desks for her to find. They posted to social media mocking her. They did everything they could to drive a person, who was already dealing with guilt, over the edge. She finally left.
Think about this kind of behavior. Think about how this would affect most adults. Now imagine your kid being subjected to it.)

With a few exceptions, those are also among the most liberal states in America.

Do you think that has anything to do with it? Or is just a random correlation?

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Do you think that has anything to do with it? Or is just a random correlation?

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Are you retarded? It has everything to do with it.

Demographics is Destiny.

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Are you retarded?

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Ironic coming from someone who did not understand my question.

Do you think those states being liberal has anything to do with their level of education?

I have been an educator for 22 years. 20 in Alabama private schools and 2 in an Atlanta metro public school, so I have been on both ends of it.

IMO, there are three key problems with public education:

1. Poor parenting.

2. A lack of significant consequences (within the school) for failing grades and/or poor behavior.

3. The pay is too low and stress is too high to attract a lot of quality people to education, and pay is based on years of service and formal education rather how good you actually are at the job.

Teaching isn’t the main problem. A bad or inexperienced teacher with a bunch of great kids will be a more productive classroom than a great teacher with a bunch of bad kids.