Schools are supposed to be hubs of knowledge and enlightenment, yet, nowadays, they often end up being the butt of the joke. Students and teachers call out schools for their ridiculous standardized tests, poor facilities, and academic requirements that are lacking.
We've decided to shine a light on all the absurd things that happen in U.S. schools. So, here we have for you a list of bad lunches, questionably graded tests, and the horrifying state of school bathrooms – all things that show how messed up the US education system really is.
#1 Uninspiring Teacher Comment
My 11 year old daughters teacher wrote this comment on her homework. I'm absolutely flabbergasted and angry. This after my daughter just competed in gymnastics nationals a month ago.
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#2 Son’s Math Test
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#3 My Chem Teacher Sucks
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The things in this list might be hard for foreigners to comprehend, but the call is coming from inside the house, too. Many Americans know how crazy and dystopian some of their schools are. According to a 2023 survey by Pew, 51% of adults in the U.S. think that the education system is going in the wrong direction.
When asked about specifics, most respondents say that schools need to spend more time teaching students core academic subjects like math, reading, and social sciences. 52% of the respondents also agree that schools don't receive adequate funding and resources.
#4 A University Anatomy Course Censoring Body Parts
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#5 My School That Started An Eco-Friendly Project By Giving Out Apples To Students
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#6 My School Thinks This Fills Up Hungry High Schoolers
So lunches are free for schools in my city and surrounding cities. Ever since lunches have been made free, the quantity (and quality) has decreased significantly. This is what we would get for our meal. It took me THREE bites to finish that chicken mac and cheese. Any snacks you want cost more money and if you want an extra entree, that’ll cost you about $3 or $4.
Image credits: Thebiggestbot22
The U.S. actually spends quite a lot of money on education, more than any other OECD country, in fact. In 2021, the U.S. spent around 5.6% of its GDP on education. For comparison, in Germany, Japan, and France, the percentages were 4.5%, 3.5%, and 5.2%, respectively.
Yet that doesn't translate into better results. U.S. students still lag behind countries like Canada, China, Estonia, Germany, Finland, the Netherlands, and New Zealand. Washington think tank the National Center on Education and the Economy (NCEE) reports that a student in Singapore is 3.5 years ahead of an American student in math, 1.5 years ahead in reading, and 2.5 years ahead in science.
#7 School Has Become Pay To Win
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#8 During The Summer, My School Installed Metal Gates Over The Bathrooms To Keep Us From Going In Between Class
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#9 I Got A Point Off For Stapling My Homework Wrong
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Some experts suggest that U.S. citizens don't see where the money goes. As the senior scholar at the American Enterprise Institute Mark Schneider writes, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) often fails to publicize their expenditure data. In 2023, the NCES published a report but didn't give the public the raw data.
#10 A Teacher In Texas Is Giving As To Students That Buy His Book And Leave A 5 Star Review On Amazon
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#11 My School’s Decision To Put Office Tiles In A Gym
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#12 Online Classes Are The Worst
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And why do we need to know where the NCEE spends its money? According to Schneider, it would help to "unpack national trends and extract lessons that can help us understand how to reverse the stagnation" in the current education system. Also, "To make the large and ever-growing national investment in education more effective and efficient."
#13 My School Wants Us To Allow This On Our Personal Devices, Just To Use Google Classroom
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#14 My Teacher Only Lets Us Go To The Bathroom 3 Times A Month
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#15 My High School Nurse Sent Me Back To Class Even Though I Had Obvious Symptoms. I Got Home And Was Immediately Tested Positive For Covid. Shoutout To The Best Nurse Ever!
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The NCEE president Mark Tucker explains that the problem persists because the U.S. education system was built on a "factory model." Originally, most teachers in the U.S. were women without many prospects to work in other fields. In the rest of the world, however, teachers were professionals, trained and highly qualified to work in classrooms.
#16 My Kid's Teacher Said "Gnome" Begins With N
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#17 A Free Bag I Got From My School
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#18 What My School Gave Its Teachers For Teacher Appreciation Week
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Tucker says that the solution to the poor U.S. education system is simple. "We have to have more highly educated teachers and we need to pay them more." But that's easier said than done. He says that the U.S. still might have a slight superiority complex. "We were so dominant for so long that it's hard for us to accept that there are now so many countries pulling ahead of us," he explained to The Guardian.
#19 What A Sad Country We Live In For My 12 Year Old To Text Me This:
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#20 My School Asked Us To Research And Watch A Tedtalk Despite Blocking Their Website And Their Videos On Youtube
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#21 This Map In My School's Elementary Library
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Students in the U.S. also have a great deal to say about the changes they want to see in their schools. In 2019, The New York Times asked high schoolers how they would improve the education system. Students agreed that teachers need higher wages and more support, they would like to learn real-life skills and see standardized tests and grades de-emphasized, and feel less pressure to do well in school.
#22 They Took Our School Bathroom Doors Away
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#23 Online School Started And I Can’t Learn Now
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#24 Do As The Teacher Say Not As The Teacher Do
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American students also want teachers to make lessons more engaging. "A textbook doesn’t answer all my questions, but a qualified teacher [who] takes their time does," student Michael Huang wrote to The New York Times. "Having a teacher [who] just brushes off questions doesn't help me," he added.
#25 The Line At My School To Check Bags (Keep In Mind That Almost All Of Theses People Are Wearing Clear Backpack)
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#26 Teacher Doesn’t Hide His Use Of AI
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#27 When You Get One Formula Wrong In Our Weekly Tests At My School They Make You Write It Out 150 Times. I Have 4 More Of These To Do
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These high schoolers also understand that they need support from their parents and teachers to thrive. One respondent, Melanie, wrote that when a student has people who are truly rooting for them, they might be destined for success. "With enough support and resources, any student could be motivated to step out of their comfort zone, and be pushed to further their thinking and education and do great things in the world beyond the classroom."
#28 Just Paid $800 For My School "Books"! It's Loose Leaf Paper!
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#29 There Aren't Enough Seats In The Lecture Rooms, So I Don't Have A Table Or Seat, Even Though I Pay A Lot Of Money To Study
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#30 This Is What We Got Served For Lunch Today At School
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How do these pics from American schools compare to your school experiences, Pandas? Share your thoughts with us in the comments. And, if you want to see more similar content, be sure to check out our previous articles here and right here!
#31 My School Is Repeatedly Playing Baby Shark In Between Classes Until Enough People Sign Up For A Charity Walk
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#32 My Little Brother’s Middle School Schedule. He’s Having Such A Hard Time Remembering When Periods Start And End. Why Are The Times This Specific?
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#33 This-Is-Why-Kids-Drop-Out-Of-School
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#34 So My Sister's School Had 4000$ That They Could Basically Spend On What Ever. They Choose This Pice Of "Educational Art"
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#35 Some One Marked Out The Profanities In The Book I Was Given To Read In Class
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#36 Wth Is This???
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#37 My School Is Making Us Cut A Hole In Our Mask To Play Our Instruments
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#38 When Your School Bans Wikipedia... Only To Copy Directly From Wikipedia In Their Own Lesson Resources
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#39 Our High School Covers The Expiration Date With Sharpie
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#40 My (Belated) Teacher Appreciation Week “Gift” From My Underfunded School- A Handful Of Items That I Should Get As Part Of My Job But Usually Pay For Out Of Pocket
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#41 My Kid Was Sent Home From School With This…whaaaa???
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#42 Someone Stole The Toilet Stalls At Our School
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#43 Son’s Kindergarten School Work. What 3-4 Letter Word Is This??
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#44 Apparently My College Now Require Us To Scan A Qr Code And Track Our Geographical Location To Take Our Attendance To Prevent Students From Skipping Classes
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#45 My School Locked All The Doors To The Toilets And Complain When We Don't Go During Breaktime And Lunchtime
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#46 The Parking Rates At My College Basically Force You To Pay $32 For Parking Since Most Classes Take Over Four Hours
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#47 This Was My Teacher Appreciation Gift From My Administration A Few Years Ago. A Hole-Punched Kool-Aid Packet, A Shoe String, And A Cheap Pun
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#48 My School During Passing Period. Right Picture Went Sorta Viral A Couple A Years Ago And Left One Was Taken Today. Nothing Has Changed
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#49 My Blind Child Came Home From School Today With This Homework
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#50 My School Just Throws Away Brand New Unopened Lunches
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#51 My School Is Fining Students That Take Too Long In The Bathroom
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#52 When You Need A 90% Or Above To Pass The Class But Your Teacher Is A Jerk
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#53 This Textbook That I Spent Like 100$ On
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#54 My Daughters (4 Yo) Preschool Homework. “Match The Pictures” With No Other Context
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#55 Got Called Out By My Teacher Because The Essay I Wrote Was Flagging As AI
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#56 Our School District Says It Would Cost $1,500 To Put In Two Dividers. Teachers And Students Use This Restroom
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#57 Here’s How The School Sent Out A Sign Up Link
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#58 This Sign On A High School Classroom Door
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#59 Tf You Mean “No Correct Answers”? It Was A Required Question?
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#60 We Live 0.7 Miles From My Daughter's School So She Is Ineligible For Bussing. Yet Every Morning As We Leave For School, This Thing Idles Out Front
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#61 Schools “Pepperoni” Pizza
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#62 These Tables At My School
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#63 Back Of School ID Card In Oklahoma (Xpost)
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#64 My Son Works At A Fairly Prestigious Charter School. This Is What They Served High School Kids For Lunch
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#65 Honestly I’d Rather Just Ask For Cash
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#66 This Milk At My School
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#67 This Is What Our Social Studies Teacher Told Us North America Is
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#68 My School Could Afford $6000000 Worth Of Renovations But They Can’t Afford Toilet Paper That I Can’t See Through
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#69 My School Banned The Dinosaur Game
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#70 The Wall Clock In My Old Elementary School’s Gym ⏰
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