Public Schools

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I think we need to test much more than what we do, he says. High stakes testing is not well embraced by teachers on public education. Teachers are under paid quite a bit less in private schools than they are public schools,. So the unionsar inflated. We don't market education in the united ates from student to teacher. And so now we're coming into a situation where a school districts arer having trouble.

Michael Shermer speaks with Chris Edwards about educational reform, his study and teaching of world history, the problems in K–12 education, the zip-code model vs. the seat time model of education and how they result in massively different educational outcomes, how “no child left behind” left children behind, federal vs. state educational systems, cheating scandals and what to do about them, the future of education in a world of free (or nearly free) online learning, comparing the U.S. educational system to other countries. Shermer and Edwards also discuss thought experiments, based on Edwards’ latest book, Thought Experiments: History and Applications for Education.