They're part of Maryland, aren't they?

Of course.

I guess that's why we only got a B+. Without Baltimore City we probably would have scored much higher.

Year in and out, not too many surprises. You see the same cast of characetrs in the top 6 every year it seems: Maryland, Virginia, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey.

Actually it's more about $$ spent per student than any achievement...sorry to disappoint

@M. Sullivan

LOL.....it could be any of those. Thanks for the laugh!

It's cheese.
(Ha, I don't know. Just funnin'.)

The better judge along these lines would be - what percentage of high schoolers go on to achieve/acquire a college degree. Although even this qualification has its flaws.
High school is supposed to prepare you for additional learning - whether it be via university or vocational/profession based schooling. High school isn't a finish line, unless you want to be a fast food worker your entire life (so to speak).

Here's another thing - you don't really think the educational standards in South Dakota are the same as Maryland, do you?

Look, we know you don't like the Maryland school system Karl. We know you're embedded in it. Has it occurred to you that perhaps as bad as you perceive our state's educaitonal system to be....it's honestly better then virtually every other state's system? Of course, this may give you a jaded view of public education overall.
Then again, most of us went through it, and we seem to have somehow turned out just fine. I'm personally a product of both the New York and Virginia systems. Honestly, looking back, I feel like my least useful education years were the middle school years in Catholic school. It's why my kid won't go to one. Grossly overrated by those who feel as though spending money always = better.

I don't hate the school system here - I hate unions so that shouldn't be confused but certainly the idea that the state schools ranked last on this list graduate by percent more high schoolers than MD doesn't exactly pass the smell test...that's certainly an eye opener and would at least suggest something quite odd about the way they measure success. We are talking about ranking the quality of public education K-12 so actually graduating from that system should matter. If I'm reading correctly and I did research this they also measure things such as having bullying programs in the schools, etc. Maybe SD doesn't need bullying programs - maybe other states lack the funding associated with a montage of "feel good" programs and therefore stick to teaching what the kids are actually there for in the first place. That list seems pretty skewed towards high tax/high per student costs on a statewide basis and those more closely associated with unions and teacher salaries. Hmmm...seems like 8 of the bottom 10 states are right to work while nearly all the top are union driven. Check thier website and look through the content. It is suggestive of an agenda other than simply academics and as such ought to leave some doubts about the formula used to evaluate success. I never take these kinds of surveys very seriously.

i guess the old saying that "figures don't lie but liars figure" has some validity---- give a group with an agenda numbers and they will give you what think you'll swallow. fortunately my children weren't educated by this current group of me me me educators (?) ----my sympathies to those whose children are the pawns in the game

I don't necessarily believe that a high school only degree equals fast food worker. We currently have 50% unemployment or underemployment for recent college grads yet there are shortages for skilled or vocational positions in manufacturing. People trained (associate degrees) in STEM fields have a better chance of making the same money as those with degrees. STEM is science, technology, engineering, mathematics. A good high school program gives these kids a boost and there are tons of opportunities for those driven to succeed instead of waiting for a handout.

I agree Tobin...used to be that having a bachelors degree meant something but since pretty much anybody that can sit up straight can manage to acquire one it loses it's value; certainly it's prestige. Plumbers, electricians, draftsman, etc., all make oodles of money and are in much higher demand than attorneys (for instance). The success measure used in this analysis would assume a greater measure of success for the attorney - would give extra points to a state for producing this attorney but the funny thing is there's such a glut of attorney's they're a dime a dozen and many of them are bagging groceries. In the meantime the plumber not weighted as highly makes 5 times what the attorney makes with more work than he can handle.

Bit of selective copying and pasting from the website you cited?

There is also this:

"Investigations have questioned some of Rhee's accomplishments in increasing test scores in D.C. schools.[39] In 2008 the Office of the State Superintendent of Education discovered that 103 schools, over half of DC schools, were flagged by third parties for suspiciously high wrong-to-right answer changes. These include 8 of the 10 campuses where Rhee handed out TEAM awards "to recognize, reward and retain high-performing educators and support staff."

"Rhee defended herself on the Tavis Smiley Show, but has since retracted her comments. She stated that an unnamed "third party" investigated any suspicious scores. Rhee did not explain the high rate of erasures on tests, but called the USA Today article an attack on school reform. She said, "It isn’t surprising that the enemies of school reform once again are trying to argue that the Earth is flat and that there is no way test scores could have improved .... unless someone cheated."[41] Since then she told Washington Post reporter Jay Mathews that her previous remarks were "stupid" and she is glad her successor, Acting Chancellor Kaya Henderson, ordered a new investigation."

I have no problem with Ms. Rhee's views on school reforms, but let's make sure the whole story is out there regarding her tenure in DC.

You are right, Frank. Sorry to misinterpret what you posted. Ms. Rhee is hardly "far less biased" than Education Week.

If the argument has now evolved into an acknowledgement of both sources being biased; both Education Week and Michelle Rhee I would expect we can just as justifyably ignore this survey as being illegitimate or at least suspect. It would be much more valuable to throw out intangibles unrelated to learning and have an analysis done by a moderate organization.

Joe/Sanchez, Rhee's group doesn't even pretend to be measuring the success/failure of the school systems, hence why Louisiana and DC (remarkably crappy school systems) are ranked top 5 while MD/VA (remarkably successful school systems) are in the middle and bottom:

Earlier in the week, Michelle Rhee’s advocacy organization, Students First, released a study of its own that assessed states based on their education policies, not the outcome of those policies. In this assessment, Louisiana topped the list followed by Florida. Maryland earned a D+, which ranked it at 17. Virginia ranked 38 and D.C. outperformed the two states with a C+ and a fourth place ranking."

You're trying to compare apples and shovels, just for the sake of fulfilling your irrational need to constantly denigrate this state. It's pathetic and sad.

You know nothing next to nothing about school reform Michelle Ree, Students First or the charter school movement. You just like how it feels. JoeBlob.

As far as I know, the US spends well in excess of $800 Billion per year on its public schools. This is not a state secret.

This compares to $65B in Canada, $86B in Russia, $40B in Australia, $61B in South Korea... and so on.

Only Britain, France, Japan and Germany spend over $100B per year on Education, and none of them even come close to the $200B mark.

The USC (Rossier) survey identifies the US as the highest spender per student at over $7700 per year.

Despite this, US students' Math and Science scores manage only 10th and 9th out of the top 12 ($ spent per pupil) nations, respectively.

Do the Math before you assert more "BS".

Meanwhile, the real issue is our price/performance ratio; whether that is a MD-specific or a US national statistic matters little. Either way, it augurs poorly for the future.

I maintain that throwing additional funds at the problem... fixes nothing.

Would you like to source your data please?

M, thank you for the sourcing. It helps very much to see the rest of the data as I would kindly suggest to you that only giving gross dollars spent as you did does not fairly show the per capita spending as that is a more important measure.

From the study, the per capita (per person) spending for the top 4 is:

US 7,743
United Kingdom 5,834
Austraila 5,766
Canada 5,749

In the top four the US spends about about 33% more than the other top spenders.

Most misleading in the statistics you quote I believe is the study measure the costs of edcuating "school-aged child" in the study are children aged 6-23. Thus college costs are included in the analysis. The cost per child will increase if a nation has more people attending college.

That said, the performance of our students in the areas measured is not good enough.

M you do know most of the countries on those studies, who rank ahead of us do not educate their special ed kids and thus do not score them in the data!

Interesting info CB

Do you know anything about Douglass High School? Have you ever been there or worked there?

What is the solution, Dr. M. ?

Obviously, mass incarceration of Black men hasn't worked. Welfare to work hasn't worked. Even your people moving to the counties hasn't worked?

You are comparing apples and oranges. The Europeans have a totally different education model and testing protocol.

If I'm not mistaken I believe the U.S. is the only country that tests their students randomly. Other areas of the world and especially Japan only test the best and the brightest. Lower achieving students are NOT factored in. In the U.S. ALL tests scores are combined.

Steve - it ought not to be about the test at all and who scores best and how they score. It ought to be about the actual number of humans that emerge from our system able to participate in the world markets with superior abilities and contributions. No greater commentary on our schools other than we beg for immigrants from India and Asian countries to fulfill some of our highest level technical jobs. Using that gauge the schools here regardless of which state all fail miserably.

Shall I link for you the number of foreignors now filling technical positions in the US? If attacking me makes you feel better than facing reality then attack away but it won't change the truth. I don't know you; really don't care about you one iota.

I will admit that's interesting. Before I'd become a believer would of course need to dig more deeply but it's an interesting suggestion.

JD1, what the Governor or any other suit does or does not do has precious little to do with the problem or the solution. You are correct on every other account.

No one wants to talk about race, class, plutocrats and elitism. Damn, I am not even sure that a bright, activist and highly informed fellow like you wants to talk about it.

1ke...I don't talk about it. I DO something about it every day. I'm on the front lines with kids from all walks of life and the teachers who have dedicated their lives to giving them a chance at life. That's why I can't stand it when blowhards like OMalley wear meaningless rankings on their sleeve as a badge of honor. He has done NOTHING to improve schools or make life easier for kids who struggle. He is no leader and he is certainly no educator. The best thing he could do for schools in MD is stay out of the way or better yet, help to dismantle the statewide testing program so teachers can teach. Tomorrow, schools throughout the state will begin the scramble to teach to the test in preparation for the next round. Instead of engaging kids in meaningful and engaging instruction, schools everywhere will be doing practice tests, MSA reviews and other BS efforts to inflate scores. His kid at Loyola won't be subjected to that...why do mine have to? MD schools #1....I don't think so...