Why the Finnish Model of Education Will Not Work in the US (part two)

This is my second post on why I think the Finnish model of education will not be accepted by the United States.  You can read my first post here.

2.  Most Americans really don't understand the true meaning of equity in education.

Finland's current success is attributed in part to the decision decades ago to provide equity in education nationwide.  I'm not trying to plug the book, "Finnish Lessons", but you should really buy it to gain the historical understanding from a true Finn, and not just one that is a couple generations removed from it.

Once upon a time, when education in Finland was mostly centered around major cities and when education was largely privatized, when the economy worldwide was suffering, Finland made a major shift to provide education to all and to make it public.  I think if you ask any Finn today, they would say that education is a right that is as important to them as our life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

In Finland, every child has the right to free public education from preschool age through college.  Read that again.  College (or a technical post-secondary school) is free.  In contrast, the US has restrictions on who can enroll their child in public preschool education and there is no such thing as a free post-secondary education unless you are lucky enough to get a scholarship.

What strikes me most from my reading is that Finland is addressing the basic survival needs of children, because without these, how can a child really learn?  Schools provide up to three meals a day to the children that need it and everyone is eligible.  There are physical, mental and emotional health services available to any child that needs it.  And this is all public and is done with less money per pupil than the US. (I'm taking a hard "gulp" while saying this, but Finland also does not nationally test kids which costs us a bunch of money.  I'm willing to bet they also don't do a bunch of other things that we pour money into.)  Finnish teachers also spend less time instructing our youth as us.  Finnish students spend less time in studies (both in and out of school) than us.

Another interesting point is that the variation on (what I would guess is mean scores) on the PISA test given to 15-year-olds among many nations between individual schools in Finland is extremely low, the lowest in the world.  This suggests that every school in Finland is preparing their kids equally well.

So, why won't the equity idea fly in the US?  I'd really like to say what I want right now, but this would irritate both republicans and democrats, so I will leave you to ponder this question and the questions that follow:

• Why can't our nation provide our youth with the developmental experiences and learning they will need to be successful adults?
• Do we all agree that the future of our country lies in the hands and hearts and brains of our youth? 
• Does every young person deserve the same opportunities to better themselves and their community/world, no matter where they live and what resources their family (or community) can provide them?

Kippis!! (Cheers!)