NoShit....

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[Midnight Writer]

1. 39%. Where have I seen that number before?

[wcmagumba]

2. Jethro Bodine made it through sixth grade and he was a genius compared to 130 mil Americans...nt

[LoisB]

3. Shameful.

[Caliman73]

4. I am not surprised.

Our education system is a patchwork of local districts with varying tax bases, meaning that some schools are well funded and others are direly in need of funds. There has also been a long struggle between local and state control of educational standards, and vehement opposition to the Federal Government being involved. We have an entire political party who wants to abolish the Department of Education at the National level. We have one State that pretty much dictates that textbooks that are printed. We have people who are offended over the accurate teaching of American history, who prefer a "patriotic" education or more accurately mythology that creates little nationalists. The desire for knowledge is not fostered and "being wrong but certain" is applauded. America has a long history of anti intellectualism and though we like the benefits of scientific progress in terms of comfort and commodity, we have a deep distrust of the scientific method as the foundation of the search for knowledge. We have a popular culture that both praises false confidence and expertise (again, wrong but certain) but disparages actual expertise (you know, the people who actually do the research and as such are never actually certain but can provide reasonable information).

When celebrity, fame, and fortune are lauded over knowledge and the seeking of fact, we are going to have over a third of the population that is not proficient in their base of knowledge.

[appmanga]

14. Yup...

America has a long history of anti intellectualism

And now we have a political party that encourages that anti-intellectualism by calling the experts and the educated "elites". Those right-wingers obtain and maintain power by either playing down their education (Senator John "Deputy Dawg" Kennedy) or being actually being a moron (too many to name, but Marsha Blackburn always immediately comes to mind).

[Rhiannon12866]

5. And with the attacks on our schools and what teachers can teach, it's getting worse...

Added to this is the pandemic - I met a veteran teacher this week who said it's been a nightmare. She said that not only were children behind in what they needed to learn, but they hadn't been in school for so long that they didn't know how to behave. She said that they were disruptive and that there were fights...

[Evolve Dammit]

6. U.S. Government publications were drafted to 5th grade reading level in the 1960's. They knew.

That was the average reader at that time. Don't think it has changed much at all.

[BlueIdaho]

7. The GOP actually prefers it that way

All the better to lead them around by their noses.

[erronis]

8. Having worked for a couple of states' Depts of Education, this is being generous

There is so much pressure to move the low performers into the next grade just to prevent 14yo pubescents in classes with 10yo children.

Of course the US/fed/state systems have tried to trim costs and mainstream everyone rather than have specialized classes for those that need them.

When the DeVos clique get their way, some of these misfits will be placed in very quiet places with no edjikashun to disturb them. Some of the rest of the misfits will be given the keys to the Kingdom.

Pity the real teachers, the parents of normal children; pity a society that should be based on being social.

[Joinfortmill]

9. If that.

[BigmanPigman]

10. I taught 6th grade

and I'd say that they are more like my 1st graders in both proficiency and maturity.

[Butterflylady]

11. And every darn one of them

Probably voted for idiot boy.

[Martin68]

12. Well, a 6th grade education isn't that bad. Good reading comprehension, good math skills,

some basic history and civics knowledge. Remember, they aren't talking about the average 6th grader, they are talking about people who actually met all the educational goals of the 6th grade curriculum.

[sinkingfeeling]

13. Sixth-grade or less.