General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: The 50's, 60's and 70's were the golden age of education in this country [View all]MissB
(15,813 posts)school and high school in the 80s. My poor rural high school had art, music, shop, etc. but it didn't offer calculus.
I moved at the end of my freshman year, joining my father and another sibling in Alaska. Turns out their high schools were very well funded in the mid-late 80's. My high school up there offered calculus, had a planetarium and tons of PE class options (full sized swimming pool, basketball, gymnastics, archery, tennis, etc). Oil money buys some pretty sweet high school options.
When my oldest was ready for kindergarten, I was horrified to see how poorly public education was being funded. Barely any music program (nothing before 4th grade), a shared librarian, no counselor, a shared art teacher and no live foreign language instruction.
We fled to a small public school district. We still represent the economic diversity in the neighborhood (we are the poor folks, median income of the neighborhood is ridiculously high). And the quality of the education? Excellent. The high school is college prep and requires four years of math, English, science and social studies. Two years of foreign language. Four years of art. Yes, they want as much art as math. The elective offerings are smaller than anyone would like, but the kids are well prepared for college and well rounded. Depending on the class, between 85-95% of kids go on to a four year college. Money makes a difference in the quality of education. I'm well aware that isn't fair.