All through the health care debate the president and the advocates of his horrible health care bill repeated again and again how we pay more than other leading countries for far worse results. Why do they not make the same argument about public education? Instead it’s always how we need to pump more and more money into the system.I agree with Glenn Reynolds that this is an interesting point.
We both know the answer, but it would be nice to see some Republicans ask the question.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
We keep paying more for worse results, in both public education and health care
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I agree that we pay more and get less in both education and healthcare. This happens because Americans refuse to look at what works in other countries, and instead, insist on crazy inefficient systems, just because we're Americans. No other country funds education through a system of local taxes and myriad teeny weeny districts. No other country with an effective education system siphons off money into circus-arts-theme charter schools and "Success For All Academies" with hazy educational plans. Other countries with effective educational systems have national curricula, effective tracking of students, and exams that determine the STUDENT'S outcomes, not the teacher's. Other countries treat their teachers with respect.
ReplyDeleteHealthcare and education in this country both suffer from the same problem. They are patchwork systems, with byzantine funding mechanisms and little oversight. We need to learn from effective practices elsewhere rather than insisting we have to reinvent the wheel.