“Shenzhen Middle School employs more than 100 staff with PhDs”
In China there is plenty of funding for academics who are engaged in cutting-edge research in fields favoured by the Communist Party such as artificial intelligence and robotics. But the Harvard academic may be surprised to learn that on many campuses, the mood among staff is sullen. Eager though the party is to promote scientific endeavour, it is becoming more selective about who gets the state’s cash. In April the education ministry said that it had revoked 12,200 degree programmes in recent years, mainly in soft subjects such as “business management”, replacing many with majors in AI and other sciences that are the party’s priorities.
Documents reviewed by The Economist show that even in Shenzhen and Hangzhou, both big hubs of party-backed tech, universities have had their budgets cut by more than 5% this year.
Restoring happiness will be difficult. Increasingly, universities are adopting Western styles of employment, with academics often having to labour for years before being granted a permanent job, says Qiang Zha of York University. Some complain that, because of tighter budgets, universities are hiring junior staff to bolster research with no intention of giving them a permanent place. Getting a job or promotion in academia is now such a struggle that many quit. Shenzhen Middle School employs more than 100 staff with PhDs.
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“They were relieved that American classes are so much easier than those in Taiwan”
Notes and links on the taxpayer funded Wisconsin DPI and Jill Underly.
“Did you know my school was bad like this when you decided to put me here?” she asked.
Madison’s district, despite an elite university pipeline, hypereducated leadership, and a shiny, new strategic plan, suffers the same frailties as Milwaukee’s: basement performance, backbreaking spending. But while Milwaukee is pulling out of its tailspin due to courageouschoices from the top, Madison is ponderously ambling to nowhere. Just ask the locals. “You need the marketing, and you need the product,” as a parent told a reporter. “I’m missing the product.”
2025-2026 Madison 4k-3rd grade Early Literacy Screener report: The bar moves faster than the kids.
Joe Gothard, Becky Kundert and Sonia Spencer Remarks on Madison’s K-12 Literacy Crisis.
2026-2027 Madison K-12 $pending continues to grow, fueled by a 9.7% (!) property tax increase. Total spending will be at least $706,000,000 for 25,003 students, or $28,236 per student.
May 2026 Madison School District Presentation: 7,095 adults for 25,003 students (3.52 students per adult!)
2024-2025 Early Literacy Screener Map.
Map: Foundations of Reading Results: 2015–2024
Where have all the students gone?
3,887 Madison 4 year old to third grade students scored lower than 75% of the students in the national comparison group.
Madison taxpayers have long supported far above average k-12 tax & $pending. This despite our long term, disastrous reading results. May, 2026: 7,095 Staff for 25,003 students; $pending > $26k per student!
Madison Schools: More $, No Accountability
The taxpayer funded Madison School District long used Reading Recovery…
The data clearly indicate that being able to read is not a requirement for graduation at (Madison) East, especially if you are black or Hispanic.
My Question to Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers on Teacher Mulligans and our Disastrous Reading Results
2017: West High Reading Interventionist Teacher’s Remarks to the School Board on Madison’s Disastrous Reading Results
Madison’s taxpayer supported K-12 school district, despite spending far more than most, has long tolerated disastrous reading results.
“An emphasis on adult employment”
Wisconsin Public Policy Forum Madison School District Report[PDF]
WEAC: $1.57 million for Four Wisconsin Senators
Friday Afternoon Veto: Governor Evers Rejects AB446/SB454; an effort to address our long term, disastrous reading results
Booked, but can’t read (Madison): functional literacy, National citizenship and the new face of Dred Scott in the age of mass incarceration.
When A Stands for Average: Students at the UW-Madison School of Education Receive Sky-High Grades. How Smart is That?
China’s PhD Glut Drives Top Graduates to High School Teaching Jobs
