Study:US is losing ground in education.

[monkian]

Isn't a massive part of the educational budget spent on sports rather than actual academic education ?

[Franconicus]

I know that there is a big diversity in the US. Is there a difference in the education between East and West, North and South?

[Don Corleone]

Isn't a massive part of the educational budget spent on sports rather than actual academic education ?

NO! In fact, that's a big sore point over here, that many schools don't even offer physical education class anymore (that, art & music are the first things to get cut).

I know that there is a big diversity in the US. Is there a difference in the education between East and West, North and South?

The biggest difference isn't North/South East/West. It's urban versus suburban. Remember, America is populated very differently than Europe. Over here, everyone saves up to move OUT of the cities, leaving behind the rich, who can afford to send their kids to private schools and the poor. The middle class are out in the countryside. Because of this, you can begin to understand why urban school districts underperform suburban ones. Not that there's a direct correlation between money available and performance. Rural schools receive less money then suburban ones, but in general, tend to outperform them.

Kangemusha... the reasoning you're going through is what the debate about American education over the past 30 years has done. Good questions, have you. Answers, equally good, you have not. (Well, neither do we, so I don't mean that as a dig)