The falling PISA scores are likely caused by smart phones and social media, neither of which are really in the control of schools. The data and argument are laid out on The Anxious Generation by Haidt. It’s on my to-read list, but I’ve heard a summary of the main argument from a technology leader in education. The data is compelling.

The Fraser Institute, a conservative think tank, pushing for privatization in education through any means necessary isn’t newsworthy. Can we stop giving propagandists air time? “Choice in education” is code for charter schools, which are a failed US experiment.

The real story about equity in education comes from Finland. Decades back, they set an educational mandate to increase equity in their system. They were trying to help the most disadvantaged students in their system succeed academically. The result? Finland rocketed to the top of the PISA scoreboard. Everyone did better.

The bullshit they’re peddling about meritocracy in education is based on conservative ideology, specifically the capitalistic notion that there are winners and losers in the world, there always will be, and winners get there because they deserve it. The evidence says otherwise; rising tides lift all ships. Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is better for all students.

I’m getting tired of conservatives trying to destroy our world-class education system. Yes, it has problems. Yes, it needs changes. But Canadian teachers are generally doing a very good job, and lots of places in Canada are on the cutting edge of implementing a variety of research-informed change that should make things even better.

If only we could only get conservative governments from cutting more and more funding from education…