Public Schools Produce Dumb Kids

[koshergrl]

Public schools are controlled by school boards, made up of parents in those schools.

They are controlled by administrators of districts that make huge salaries and many districts to an area to spread the wealth among themselves.

Our middle school principal just became our superintendent. He is about 450 lbs of sweaty palmed communist, and the worthless pig he chose to replace him at the Middle School is even worse.

move elsewhere, putz

Why would I move? I was here first.

Why stay where you are not happy, I am sure you could find a nice conservative school district in Arkansas or Mississippi with the educational equivalent of a 3rd world country

Who said I was unhappy? I said the superintendent is a 450 lb sweaty palmed commie and the principal is a whiny sack of shit...

But that's an observation of their primary characteristics, not a commentary on my happiness.

See this is a perfect example of what happens when people are indoctrinated, rather than educated. Your thought processes don't follow. You don't react or pick up on words...you just go with whatever your own emotions and bias lead you to believe. Reality is meaningless to you.

 

[Brain357]

The type of school doesn't matter if the parents are not active.

So why send them to school? My parents didn't do shit and I don't know anyone's that did. They worked. Teachers are supposed to work to but indoctrination is pushed heavily. Academics take a back seat to self esteem and community awareness/social acceptance.

You seem to live in a fantasy world. My kids learn a lot of academics obviously. Indoctrination? More crazy right wing conspiracy talk. Come find the real world.

Oh brother....p-schools kids watch Fat Albert's end of the world AGW lies and for an added bonus, watch Fat Mikey Moore's left wing movies. Now...name one film they watch that is right wing? This is to say nothing of the non-stop PC, diversity, homosexual, moral equivalence, big government wonderfulness, socialist shit storm indoctrination they also get.

You don't see the indoctrination...because you are purposely blind.

They don't spend a lot of time watching movies... that is your argument? You can't be serious.

Dumb ass....do you dispute that the p-schools show those movies to their students?

Name one right wing movie they are forced to watch.

Name a right wing movie you would have them watch?

What is so left wing about fat Albert?

Given movies are like .01% of schooling you have about 0 argument.

 

[Dr.Traveler]

Public schools are controlled by school boards, made up of parents in those schools.

Means nothing dick head. Most are leftists.

No, they're not. County by county there are more red counties than blue in the USA, meaning most school boards are populated by folks who come from Republican leaning districts. They're either Republican leaning themselves or are selected by Republican voters.

States have most of the control over schools and again, most of the State legislators are controlled by the GOP. Who also control every state college or University through budgetary powers or the power to appoint members of various Board of Trustees. Even in the case of private schools, the board of Trustees are typically successful alumni (read businessmen), which is a fairly reliable Republican demographic.

That's just more evidence that the far right, as a subset of the right, doesn't realize what a small minority they are in the big picture. Americans don't want the far right running our schools.

Yeah, 'cause you guys have done a bang-up job. Guess what, private and parochial schools are typically run by more conservative types and they turn out much higher caliber students. You do the math... well, get someone to help you do the math.

Would you show us some stats to back up your point, or again is this just your biased opinion?

Soggy in NOLA is in Louisiana. I was there for 9 years myself, and he's right. The public schools are in a whole other class of quality from the private schools. There's no comparison at all.

What helps the private schools in Louisiana out is the fact that:

1. They can self select their student population
2. If you're paying money to educate your children out of your own pocket, you can be damn sure you're going to get involved.

I will say even with that, my son is doing better in a public school in the Midwest than he was in a private school in Louisiana because we as parents have more time to be involved.

 

[paulitician]

American parents should always seek alternative education options before sending their children into the Public School Nightmare. The System really is a mess. It's all Communist/Progressive Democrat brainwashing now. It's about them forcing their political and social agendas on the children.

And then you have all the sexual assaults being committed by degenerate teachers as well. That's become rampant in Public Schools. I seriously recommend parents consider other options. Sending their children into today's Public School System is a dangerous gamble at best.

 

[pismoe]

here you go , more from Jesse Wattars OldLady . --- Watters’ World: How Would College Students Deal With ISIS? ---

 

[koshergrl]

Some of the worst, absolute worst schools in the nation are in Red states. Look at 40-51 on that list. Every one of them leans Red most elections. There are no Blue or even leaning Blue states. Or check this list. Red States dominate nearly every "bad" category. So if low education is yielding anything, it's more Republican voters.

But there is a problem with the schools, and the big issue is parental involvement. No amount of money thrown at schools is going to fix things until parents are more involved. And the reason less parents are involved? Because it takes two incomes in the USA now to actually allow a family of four to have a middle class lifestyle. With my wife and I working, we were making six figures a year in combined income. But the kids were starting to suffer in school despite being able to hire tutors, education specialists, occupational and speech therapists, and sending them to the best private school in town. She left her job and now our income is 5 figures. But the kids are doing a whole heck of a lot better in a public school because Mom is available to help them.

Bottom line: Parents make a huge difference. And this isn't getting better until we get to the point that someone (Mom or Dad) can stay home with the kids.

Yes, and the first thing parents need to do is to hold the feet of their teachers to the fire.

I'd agree, pushing back against teachers when they're wrong is parent responsibility. But it's hard to do that when both parents are putting in 40 hours a week to be middle class. Which is really unfortunate because the only way to really know what's going on with your schools is to volunteer, show up in the classroom, talk to your kids, and talk to your teachers (not necessarily in that order, but all important). And again, if you're putting in 40 hours a week it's tough to do. If both parents are doing that, it's impossible.

That's the aspect of all this that gets lost in this debate, and it may be the most important. I can say from experience that no amount of money we threw at our children's education solved the problems. What did solve the problem was time. Specifically, our time as parents.

Well see that's a result of the themes our public education has woven through all aspects of life over the past 50 years. The idea that it's cool for teens to have sex, that single parenthood is perfectly fine, that we don't have the right to expect exceptionalism. The result is generations of single parents...and single parents who work (I'm one)..yup you're right, they aren't a heavy presence on the PTA and school board meetings because they just don't have the time. They also don't have money..sometimes money can offset the time issue. But single parents have neither.

Which of course was perfectly understood by the mavens, personality cults and educators of the sixties who put this plan for America in motion....

 

[gipper]

So why send them to school? My parents didn't do shit and I don't know anyone's that did. They worked. Teachers are supposed to work to but indoctrination is pushed heavily. Academics take a back seat to self esteem and community awareness/social acceptance.

You seem to live in a fantasy world. My kids learn a lot of academics obviously. Indoctrination? More crazy right wing conspiracy talk. Come find the real world.

Oh brother....p-schools kids watch Fat Albert's end of the world AGW lies and for an added bonus, watch Fat Mikey Moore's left wing movies. Now...name one film they watch that is right wing? This is to say nothing of the non-stop PC, diversity, homosexual, moral equivalence, big government wonderfulness, socialist shit storm indoctrination they also get.

You don't see the indoctrination...because you are purposely blind.

They don't spend a lot of time watching movies... that is your argument? You can't be serious.

Dumb ass....do you dispute that the p-schools show those movies to their students?

Name one right wing movie they are forced to watch.

Name a right wing movie you would have them watch?

What is so left wing about fat Albert?

Given movies are like .01% of schooling you have about 0 argument.

F**k you. Name one right wing movie they watch.

Just one...dick head.

 

[Dr.Traveler]

Idiot...means nothing if the state is red or blue. Education in the US is controlled by leftists.

Oh it most certainly means everything. You're worried public schools are dumbing down the voters? IF, and it's a big IF, we accept your premise that means those dumbed down voters are coming out of school and voting...Republican. So by your own logic, poor education leads to Republican voters.

It also makes a difference because if you're in a GOP leaning state, then probably your school board, state legislature, and governor are all GOP. School boards especially are decided by Republican leaning voters as they often happen during off cycle elections which favor GOP turn out and have reduced DNC turnout.

So again, the guys holding most of the levers in this process are Republicans. Overwhelmingly. And they produce Republicans.

That is a huge line of horseshit. From beginning to end, and you support none of it. Primarily because it's not true, I imagine.

You can see School rankings by state here and here. The bottom spots are dominated by states that are traditionally Republican leaning, as you can check here. The break down of party by county map is here. You can check state by state control of legislatures here.

All this stuff is pretty well known and can be found using google and a few spare minutes. That supports all the things I said above. The GOP overwhelmingly controls the State Legislatures, and counties and produces some of the worst schools, state by state. Which in turn keep voting GOP.

 

[Brain357]

You seem to live in a fantasy world. My kids learn a lot of academics obviously. Indoctrination? More crazy right wing conspiracy talk. Come find the real world.

Oh brother....p-schools kids watch Fat Albert's end of the world AGW lies and for an added bonus, watch Fat Mikey Moore's left wing movies. Now...name one film they watch that is right wing? This is to say nothing of the non-stop PC, diversity, homosexual, moral equivalence, big government wonderfulness, socialist shit storm indoctrination they also get.

You don't see the indoctrination...because you are purposely blind.

They don't spend a lot of time watching movies... that is your argument? You can't be serious.

Dumb ass....do you dispute that the p-schools show those movies to their students?

Name one right wing movie they are forced to watch.

Name a right wing movie you would have them watch?

What is so left wing about fat Albert?

Given movies are like .01% of schooling you have about 0 argument.

F**k you. Name one right wing movie they watch.

Just one...dick head.

Brilliant response. Private schools for you no doubt.

What is a right wing movie? What is left wing about fat albert? Sorry to bring you back to reality.

 

[Dr.Traveler]

Some of the worst, absolute worst schools in the nation are in Red states. Look at 40-51 on that list. Every one of them leans Red most elections. There are no Blue or even leaning Blue states. Or check this list. Red States dominate nearly every "bad" category. So if low education is yielding anything, it's more Republican voters.

But there is a problem with the schools, and the big issue is parental involvement. No amount of money thrown at schools is going to fix things until parents are more involved. And the reason less parents are involved? Because it takes two incomes in the USA now to actually allow a family of four to have a middle class lifestyle. With my wife and I working, we were making six figures a year in combined income. But the kids were starting to suffer in school despite being able to hire tutors, education specialists, occupational and speech therapists, and sending them to the best private school in town. She left her job and now our income is 5 figures. But the kids are doing a whole heck of a lot better in a public school because Mom is available to help them.

Bottom line: Parents make a huge difference. And this isn't getting better until we get to the point that someone (Mom or Dad) can stay home with the kids.

Yes, and the first thing parents need to do is to hold the feet of their teachers to the fire.

I'd agree, pushing back against teachers when they're wrong is parent responsibility. But it's hard to do that when both parents are putting in 40 hours a week to be middle class. Which is really unfortunate because the only way to really know what's going on with your schools is to volunteer, show up in the classroom, talk to your kids, and talk to your teachers (not necessarily in that order, but all important). And again, if you're putting in 40 hours a week it's tough to do. If both parents are doing that, it's impossible.

That's the aspect of all this that gets lost in this debate, and it may be the most important. I can say from experience that no amount of money we threw at our children's education solved the problems. What did solve the problem was time. Specifically, our time as parents.

Well see that's a result of the themes our public education has woven through all aspects of life over the past 50 years. The idea that it's cool for teens to have sex, that single parenthood is perfectly fine, that we don't have the right to expect exceptionalism. The result is generations of single parents...and single parents who work (I'm one)..yup you're right, they aren't a heavy presence on the PTA and school board meetings because they just don't have the time. They also don't have money..sometimes money can offset the time issue. But single parents have neither.

Which of course was perfectly understood by the mavens, personality cults and educators of the sixties who put this plan for America in motion....

I don't know about your last sentence, but I agree. It's tough for single parents. Their ability to be involved is almost non-existent. But it isn't a whole lot better on that front for a lot of traditional families either. When both parents are working the whole thing starts to fall apart. It's a tough problem to fix, and I have no idea how you fix it.

 

[pismoe]

here you go OldLady , these youts are college age , either fresh from 'high screwl' and ready for College . Or maybe a few years outa 'high screwl' . --- 'The South Won the Civil War?' Beach Babes Bomb Watters' World Memorial Day Quiz --- Anyway , these dummies , products of public education vote OldLady !!

 

[pismoe]

Some of the worst, absolute worst schools in the nation are in Red states. Look at 40-51 on that list. Every one of them leans Red most elections. There are no Blue or even leaning Blue states. Or check this list. Red States dominate nearly every "bad" category. So if low education is yielding anything, it's more Republican voters.

But there is a problem with the schools, and the big issue is parental involvement. No amount of money thrown at schools is going to fix things until parents are more involved. And the reason less parents are involved? Because it takes two incomes in the USA now to actually allow a family of four to have a middle class lifestyle. With my wife and I working, we were making six figures a year in combined income. But the kids were starting to suffer in school despite being able to hire tutors, education specialists, occupational and speech therapists, and sending them to the best private school in town. She left her job and now our income is 5 figures. But the kids are doing a whole heck of a lot better in a public school because Mom is available to help them.

Bottom line: Parents make a huge difference. And this isn't getting better until we get to the point that someone (Mom or Dad) can stay home with the kids.

Yes, and the first thing parents need to do is to hold the feet of their teachers to the fire.

I'd agree, pushing back against teachers when they're wrong is parent responsibility. But it's hard to do that when both parents are putting in 40 hours a week to be middle class. Which is really unfortunate because the only way to really know what's going on with your schools is to volunteer, show up in the classroom, talk to your kids, and talk to your teachers (not necessarily in that order, but all important). And again, if you're putting in 40 hours a week it's tough to do. If both parents are doing that, it's impossible.

That's the aspect of all this that gets lost in this debate, and it may be the most important. I can say from experience that no amount of money we threw at our children's education solved the problems. What did solve the problem was time. Specifically, our time as parents.

Well see that's a result of the themes our public education has woven through all aspects of life over the past 50 years. The idea that it's cool for teens to have sex, that single parenthood is perfectly fine, that we don't have the right to expect exceptionalism. The result is generations of single parents...and single parents who work (I'm one)..yup you're right, they aren't a heavy presence on the PTA and school board meetings because they just don't have the time. They also don't have money..sometimes money can offset the time issue. But single parents have neither.

Which of course was perfectly understood by the mavens, personality cults and educators of the sixties who put this plan for America in motion....

I don't know about your last sentence, but I agree. It's tough for single parents. Their ability to be involved is almost non-existent. But it isn't a whole lot better on that front for a lot of traditional families either. When both parents are working the whole thing starts to fall apart. It's a tough problem to fix, and I have no idea how you fix it.

 

[koshergrl]

Idiot...means nothing if the state is red or blue. Education in the US is controlled by leftists.

Oh it most certainly means everything. You're worried public schools are dumbing down the voters? IF, and it's a big IF, we accept your premise that means those dumbed down voters are coming out of school and voting...Republican. So by your own logic, poor education leads to Republican voters.

It also makes a difference because if you're in a GOP leaning state, then probably your school board, state legislature, and governor are all GOP. School boards especially are decided by Republican leaning voters as they often happen during off cycle elections which favor GOP turn out and have reduced DNC turnout.

So again, the guys holding most of the levers in this process are Republicans. Overwhelmingly. And they produce Republicans.

That is a huge line of horseshit. From beginning to end, and you support none of it. Primarily because it's not true, I imagine.

You can see School rankings by state here and here. The bottom spots are dominated by states that are traditionally Republican leaning, as you can check here. The break down of party by county map is here. You can check state by state control of legislatures here.

All this stuff is pretty well known and can be found using google and a few spare minutes. That supports all the things I said above. The GOP overwhelmingly controls the State Legislatures, and counties and produces some of the worst schools, state by state. Which in turn keep voting GOP.

But there's the conundrum...Republican areas of our country have been destroyed economically by the communists in power. The result is that they are even more dependent on federal programs than the wealthy Dems who can afford private schools. The poorest states are the states with the most intrusive federal government presence. You think it's a coincidence that they happen to be "Republican"? We've been targeted by dems for DECADES. They want us poor and dead. Our kids in rural America are deliberately targeted for dumbing down. I can list off a dozen community programs right now that are targeting rural areas, just as they targeted the poor populations of the cities in the 70s.

 

[SassyIrishLass]

Says "youngsters" . Doesn't say youngsters from public schools .

Who has geography anymore?

Public Schools Produce Dumb Kids

Yes . A stupid title, ironically .

It talks of national geographic survey . Nothing says that survey was of PUBLIC school kids only .

Public education is failing the children on an epic level

No, dumb ass parents are failing their children on an epic level. When my children were in school, I and my wife, took a very active role in the PTA. And we noted that all the parents we saw In the organization had children that not only did well in school, but were more knowledgable about in other areas not taught in school, because their parents made an active commitment to take the to museums and other places of learning outside of school.

One room schoolhouse, old timer?

 

[Dr.Traveler]

Idiot...means nothing if the state is red or blue. Education in the US is controlled by leftists.

Oh it most certainly means everything. You're worried public schools are dumbing down the voters? IF, and it's a big IF, we accept your premise that means those dumbed down voters are coming out of school and voting...Republican. So by your own logic, poor education leads to Republican voters.

It also makes a difference because if you're in a GOP leaning state, then probably your school board, state legislature, and governor are all GOP. School boards especially are decided by Republican leaning voters as they often happen during off cycle elections which favor GOP turn out and have reduced DNC turnout.

So again, the guys holding most of the levers in this process are Republicans. Overwhelmingly. And they produce Republicans.

That is a huge line of horseshit. From beginning to end, and you support none of it. Primarily because it's not true, I imagine.

You can see School rankings by state here and here. The bottom spots are dominated by states that are traditionally Republican leaning, as you can check here. The break down of party by county map is here. You can check state by state control of legislatures here.

All this stuff is pretty well known and can be found using google and a few spare minutes. That supports all the things I said above. The GOP overwhelmingly controls the State Legislatures, and counties and produces some of the worst schools, state by state. Which in turn keep voting GOP.

But there's the conundrum...Republican areas of our country have been destroyed economically by the communists in power. The result is that they are even more dependent on federal programs than the wealthy Dems who can afford private schools. The poorest states are the states with the most intrusive federal government presence. You think it's a coincidence that they happen to be "Republican"? We've been targeted by dems for DECADES. They want us poor and dead. Our kids in rural America are deliberately targeted for dumbing down. I can list off a dozen community programs right now that are targeting rural areas, just as they targeted the poor populations of the cities in the 70s.

I don't have a lot of answers for this one, I'll confess. This gets into what the hell happened to the US Economy in the 80's to present. Is it the fault of any one party that a lot of the jobs that let high school educated folks have middle class life styles disappeared? That I can't weigh in on. The 80's were bad for manufacturing, but no decade since has been all that great either.

I will say this: whatever has happened it's produced Republican voters by the droves. It's no secret if you look at the county by county map posted earlier that the rural areas are absolutely dominated by the GOP. Now how that all fits together with the economy, education, and party affiliation is up in the air.

 

[Iceweasel]

Idiot...means nothing if the state is red or blue. Education in the US is controlled by leftists.

Oh it most certainly means everything. You're worried public schools are dumbing down the voters? IF, and it's a big IF, we accept your premise that means those dumbed down voters are coming out of school and voting...Republican. So by your own logic, poor education leads to Republican voters.

It also makes a difference because if you're in a GOP leaning state, then probably your school board, state legislature, and governor are all GOP. School boards especially are decided by Republican leaning voters as they often happen during off cycle elections which favor GOP turn out and have reduced DNC turnout.

So again, the guys holding most of the levers in this process are Republicans. Overwhelmingly. And they produce Republicans.

That is a huge line of horseshit. From beginning to end, and you support none of it. Primarily because it's not true, I imagine.

You can see School rankings by state here and here. The bottom spots are dominated by states that are traditionally Republican leaning, as you can check here. The break down of party by county map is here. You can check state by state control of legislatures here.

All this stuff is pretty well known and can be found using google and a few spare minutes. That supports all the things I said above. The GOP overwhelmingly controls the State Legislatures, and counties and produces some of the worst schools, state by state. Which in turn keep voting GOP.

But there's the conundrum...Republican areas of our country have been destroyed economically by the communists in power. The result is that they are even more dependent on federal programs than the wealthy Dems who can afford private schools. The poorest states are the states with the most intrusive federal government presence. You think it's a coincidence that they happen to be "Republican"? We've been targeted by dems for DECADES. They want us poor and dead. Our kids in rural America are deliberately targeted for dumbing down. I can list off a dozen community programs right now that are targeting rural areas, just as they targeted the poor populations of the cities in the 70s.

I don't have a lot of answers for this one, I'll confess. This gets into what the hell happened to the US Economy in the 80's to present. Is it the fault of any one party that a lot of the jobs that let high school educated folks have middle class life styles disappeared? That I can't weigh in on. The 80's were bad for manufacturing, but no decade since has been all that great either.

I will say this: whatever has happened it's produced Republican voters by the droves. It's no secret if you look at the county by county map posted earlier that the rural areas are absolutely dominated by the GOP. Now how that all fits together with the economy, education, and party affiliation is up in the air.

Reagan was polling badly against Carter but won bigly. It shocked the media talking heads. GDP went way up because he practiced conservative principles, lowering taxes, eased up on business regulations and pushing supply side economics.

I don't know where you heard the 80s was bad for manufacturing. Maybe not as good as it was but the world changed. Japan and Germany rebuilt (with our help) and entered to global marketplace while we had been unchallenged.

 

[Brain357]

Oh it most certainly means everything. You're worried public schools are dumbing down the voters? IF, and it's a big IF, we accept your premise that means those dumbed down voters are coming out of school and voting...Republican. So by your own logic, poor education leads to Republican voters.

It also makes a difference because if you're in a GOP leaning state, then probably your school board, state legislature, and governor are all GOP. School boards especially are decided by Republican leaning voters as they often happen during off cycle elections which favor GOP turn out and have reduced DNC turnout.

So again, the guys holding most of the levers in this process are Republicans. Overwhelmingly. And they produce Republicans.

That is a huge line of horseshit. From beginning to end, and you support none of it. Primarily because it's not true, I imagine.

You can see School rankings by state here and here. The bottom spots are dominated by states that are traditionally Republican leaning, as you can check here. The break down of party by county map is here. You can check state by state control of legislatures here.

All this stuff is pretty well known and can be found using google and a few spare minutes. That supports all the things I said above. The GOP overwhelmingly controls the State Legislatures, and counties and produces some of the worst schools, state by state. Which in turn keep voting GOP.

But there's the conundrum...Republican areas of our country have been destroyed economically by the communists in power. The result is that they are even more dependent on federal programs than the wealthy Dems who can afford private schools. The poorest states are the states with the most intrusive federal government presence. You think it's a coincidence that they happen to be "Republican"? We've been targeted by dems for DECADES. They want us poor and dead. Our kids in rural America are deliberately targeted for dumbing down. I can list off a dozen community programs right now that are targeting rural areas, just as they targeted the poor populations of the cities in the 70s.

I don't have a lot of answers for this one, I'll confess. This gets into what the hell happened to the US Economy in the 80's to present. Is it the fault of any one party that a lot of the jobs that let high school educated folks have middle class life styles disappeared? That I can't weigh in on. The 80's were bad for manufacturing, but no decade since has been all that great either.

I will say this: whatever has happened it's produced Republican voters by the droves. It's no secret if you look at the county by county map posted earlier that the rural areas are absolutely dominated by the GOP. Now how that all fits together with the economy, education, and party affiliation is up in the air.

Reagan was polling badly against Carter but won bigly. It shocked the media talking heads. GDP went way up because he practiced conservative principles, lowering taxes, eased up on business regulations and pushing supply side economics.

I don't know where you heard the 80s was bad for manufacturing. Maybe not as good as it was but the world changed. Japan and Germany rebuilt (with our help) and entered to global marketplace while we had been unchallenged.

And he increased debt.

 

[gipper]

That is a huge line of horseshit. From beginning to end, and you support none of it. Primarily because it's not true, I imagine.

You can see School rankings by state here and here. The bottom spots are dominated by states that are traditionally Republican leaning, as you can check here. The break down of party by county map is here. You can check state by state control of legislatures here.

All this stuff is pretty well known and can be found using google and a few spare minutes. That supports all the things I said above. The GOP overwhelmingly controls the State Legislatures, and counties and produces some of the worst schools, state by state. Which in turn keep voting GOP.

But there's the conundrum...Republican areas of our country have been destroyed economically by the communists in power. The result is that they are even more dependent on federal programs than the wealthy Dems who can afford private schools. The poorest states are the states with the most intrusive federal government presence. You think it's a coincidence that they happen to be "Republican"? We've been targeted by dems for DECADES. They want us poor and dead. Our kids in rural America are deliberately targeted for dumbing down. I can list off a dozen community programs right now that are targeting rural areas, just as they targeted the poor populations of the cities in the 70s.

I don't have a lot of answers for this one, I'll confess. This gets into what the hell happened to the US Economy in the 80's to present. Is it the fault of any one party that a lot of the jobs that let high school educated folks have middle class life styles disappeared? That I can't weigh in on. The 80's were bad for manufacturing, but no decade since has been all that great either.

I will say this: whatever has happened it's produced Republican voters by the droves. It's no secret if you look at the county by county map posted earlier that the rural areas are absolutely dominated by the GOP. Now how that all fits together with the economy, education, and party affiliation is up in the air.

Reagan was polling badly against Carter but won bigly. It shocked the media talking heads. GDP went way up because he practiced conservative principles, lowering taxes, eased up on business regulations and pushing supply side economics.

I don't know where you heard the 80s was bad for manufacturing. Maybe not as good as it was but the world changed. Japan and Germany rebuilt (with our help) and entered to global marketplace while we had been unchallenged.

And he increased debt.

Yep and Obama doubled the national debt, but you don't know that fact and if you do , you don't care. Oh but that Reagan!!!!

 

[regent]

My high school with 5000 students had a 75% dropout rate. The kids that graduated probably had a fair education. Then the public began to have trouble with the dropouts on the streets, and so a new demand came to pass, "Keep em in school." I think we still are trying to keep em in school but to do so, schools have had to make adjustments, social promotion and so forth.

 

[Unkotare]

It's all Reading/Writing/Math now...no Geography is taught.

Yes, it is. Not as comprehensively as it could be, but it's there.