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412 points tafda | 2 comments | | HN request time: 0.412s | source
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csa ◴[] No.42247695[source]
It’s not just California, but California may be one of the more egregious state neglecters.

The push at the state level for policies that focus on equality of outcomes over equality of opportunities will not end well for the gifted and talented communities.

Whenever I hear these people talk about their policies, I can’t help but recall Harrison Bergeron.

Focusing on equality of outcomes in a society that structurally does not afford equality of opportunities is a fool’s game that ends with Bergeron-esque levels of absurdity.

Imho, the only viable/main solution is to acknowledge that we all aren’t equal, we don’t all have access to the same opportunities, but as a country we can implement policies that lessen the imbalance.

Head Start is a good example.

Well-run gifted and talented programs in schools are also good examples.

Killing truly progressive programs for the purpose of virtue signaling is a loss for society.

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BriggyDwiggs42 ◴[] No.42247950[source]
What we oughta do is make a system where state education funding is equally distributed (per student capita) to all the schools in a state. Local funding by property taxes, while not most of the funding for schools, also needs to go. We also oughta try and tackle the administrative bloat on a federal level to get more of that money going to things that directly help students. I agree equality of outcome is a hopeless endeavor when schools are so dramatically unequal in the states, but I also think we could address that inequality of opportunity with better funding policy.
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1. insane_dreamer ◴[] No.42249491[source]
It has more to do with the income level of the families sending their kids to a school rather than the funds that the school has available.

This is why the only way to successfully reduce inequality in the education system is to reduce inequality in society at large.

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2. roguecoder ◴[] No.42250283[source]
That doesn't even make sense. We've seen lots of positive outcomes from increasing funding directly to less-well-resourced schools.

We have to defy rich people's preferences to do that, but that is entirely possible.