EDUCATIONAL BREAKDOWN: “IF IT’S NOT BROKEN . . .”

I found this educational breakdown map on twitter. Is it accurate, or close enough?

Social media accuracy is close enough without knowing when this was made and the data at the time.

I’m not posting this to cheer the smart states or rag on the others, but to show how an educational breakdown of the entire nation is perceived.

Plus an extra reason. Please continue, blog reader.

As a long time writer on this blog I check analytics to see where people who read come from. This is the American map of overnight boomerpdx visits:

Call me biased, but Oregon looks like the smartest state in the union on my screen. Oddly enough I’m consistent day after day with the wall of ignorance that starts in North Dakota and drops down the middle of the continent.

From first glance, the two maps are a pretty good match. Weird? Sort of, but still a shocker.

If you can expand the top map you’ll see the West Coast carries #13, #14, and Oregon at #15 with top states on the East Coast.

Massachussets at #1, Maryland #2, and Connecticut at #3 with the Harvards and Yales and whatever schools are in Maryland. It’s a nice cluster of brainpower.

Is it a surprise that worldfinance.com includes the top three educational breakdown states among the top five richest states in America based on income? My take away is that eduction and income are linked.

The Secret To Success At The Top

#1

The economy has also continued to benefit as a result of Maryland’s strong investment in education, paving the way for growth in sectors that require highly skilled workers.

#4

The state is a renowned hub for higher education facilities, with Harvard, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Tufts University all situated just outside of Boston, the state capital. 

#5

The fifth-wealthiest state in the US is Connecticut, whose residents are more likely to work in higher-paying fields – such as information and finance – than those living elsewhere.

Call Me Stupid, But . . .

West Virginia and Arkansas could use a little help on both maps. Outsiders might look at this and still think America is all the same. It’s not.

My claims on educational breakdown comes from a humble place. As a two time college dropout I had two goals: either finish my Bachelor’s, or find a better school to drop out from.

In 2010 Time Magazine published a list of famous dropouts. Bill Gates dropping out of Harvard leads the pack, with Steve Jobs dropping out of Reed College in Portland second.

Harvard and Reed vs Southern Oregon University and U of O are no competition, so I did the right thing and graduated from Portland State. You know, finish what you start and lose the dropout stigma, which you never hear attached to world beaters like Gates and Jobs.

Besides, I’ve got family members with advanced degrees and I wanted them to know I valued education. Call it a cultural influence, call it jealousy, call it keeping up with the smart guys, I wanted that college diploma.

With a full time job working in a museum, wife, kids, house, the whole disaster, I took lunch classes, night classes, any class that fit my schedule and fulfilled university requirements. I was driven to finish, with my wife’s foot on the gas.

An earlier motivator was my dad. The first in his family with a college degree, he wanted his kids educated. I felt the same with my kids and hounded them more than they needed.

Using The Blogger Educational Breakdown

This is an updated map of the 2020 election from politico.com.

The top education states are blue, as are the top money states, as are boomerpdx reader states.

My tongue in cheek conclusion? Read this blog for better income and educational opportunities. To all the Bubbas out there: If your first response is, “So, you think you’re better than me,” my answer is no.

I come from a place that would fit well next to any small town in America in rich or poor states, educated or uneducated. Don’t use where you come from as an excuse for how your life is turning out.

But do look at the leaders willing to exploit you and toss you in the trash afterwards. If money and education are tied together the way they seem, the way I’ve presented, then plan accordingly.

Break the downward cycle. Find candidates in the next elections who address the needs of the community and its future, not their future.

The vote is your voice for change, if you want change. And if you don’t want change, do it for the kids, the youth, so they have a better chance at a life better than yours.

Then you can ask them,”So, you think you’re better than me?”

When they answer, “Yes,” you can take pride that you showed them the way.