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 Dave Ross
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In Finland, the school has to be ready for the kids, not the other way around. (AP Photo/File)

Why must our schools always be compared with Finland?

BY Dave Ross  on November 16, 2012 @ 12:16 pm (Updated: 12:46 pm - 11/16/12 )

In every education survey, Finland seems to come out on top. Finland. And I'll bet you're sick and tired of hearing how great Finland is. But I wanted to find out why, so asked the man who helped Finland do it -- Pasi Sahlberg, from Finland's education ministry -- to reveal their secret.

"Forty years ago, when we started to build this current school system, we decided to invest heavily in equity," said Sahlberg.

Which meant equal facilities and every teacher, even at the elementary level, getting a level of education similar to a medical degree.

They didn't set out to be the best! In fact, there was a fear that equity would create mediocrity, but it turned out to be just the opposite. Equality...created excellence.

Because at the same time Finland decided the schools would also be responsible for eradicating poverty.

"We understood that we wanted to make sure that everybody is ready to learn and that every child would be successful," said Sahlberg. "School has to be the place where everybody goes to; why we integrate and better these things to our school system. It's not socialism it's realism."

And Finnish realism says for education to be successful, poverty cannot be tolerated.

It's a fundamentally different approach to the idea of school readiness. Here in the U.S. we ask "is the child ready for for school?" Not in Finland.

Said Sahlberg, "In Finland when you speak about school readiness you ask whether the school, where children are coming is ready to host and welcome everybody as they are."

It may sound like rainbows and lollipops... but the data is unambiguous. This little country, with this simple idea, has made us look like the third world.

Dave Ross, KIRO Radio Talk Show Host
Dave Ross is co-host of The Ross & Burbank Show on KIRO Radio (weekdays 9-Noon) and never too far from the spotlight.
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Comments (14)


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  • Paul Kersey wrote...
    Could it be all that Finnish diversity that makes it work?
    November 18, 2012 5:47 am
    Diversity is a core principle of faith in the liberal bible. These Fins are infidels of liberalism, and less diverse than the evil tea party. This comparison is apostasy.

    Net migration rate: 0.62 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2011 est.)

    Ethnic groups: Finn 93.4%, Swede 5.6%

    Religions: Lutheran Church of Finland 82.5%

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  • 2112 wrote...
    Also;
    November 18, 2012 3:08 pm
    What percentage of Finnish kids have both parents in the home and both actually give a crap about what their child is doing?
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  • Padre wrote...
    I wish I had a like button for this....
    November 18, 2012 6:30 pm
    Seriously.
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  • Paul Kersey wrote...
    PS: We are now the third world
    November 18, 2012 6:21 am
    What do you mean "look like"? Once our loans are called in, it will become more apparent.
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  • Fuego wrote...
    How long are the
    November 18, 2012 8:27 am
    Lines to get free stuff? It's not a fair comparison when you don't include other stats like defense spending compared lo GDP or what's the divorce rate, how many kids are from a one parent family? Dave, you need to get real.
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  • sohojo wrote...
    It's the
    November 18, 2012 8:42 am
    Public employee teacher unions in the US that assure that our educational system will always be 2nd rate.
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  • 2112 wrote...
    And don't forget
    November 18, 2012 3:11 pm
    The millions and millions spent to build schools that look like Taj Mahals and cost a fortune to maintain them. Should we discuss how much is spent on Busing and free meals and child care too?
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  • Forrest wrote...
    The wealthy and corporate America are to blame for poor education.
    November 18, 2012 11:02 am
    They want workers who are just smart enough to run the factory machines and take orders for service work. A quality education is what gives the wealthy an advantage over everyone else.
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  • 2112 wrote...
    Are you serious
    November 18, 2012 3:08 pm
    Good grief. Have you ever run a business?
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  • 2112 wrote...
    BTW
    November 18, 2012 3:12 pm
    My response is to Forrest
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  • NW observer wrote...
    USA vs. the world
    November 18, 2012 5:55 pm
    For some reason, comparisons like this (Finland vs. USA) are popular with commentators who want to criticize American culture. A critique of the education system and outcomes in a country with 300 million ethnically and culturally diverse individuals versus that of a country of 5 million essentially identical citizens is an exercise in intellectual horse manure, as well as a waste of time.
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  • Op TK wrote...
    Diversity is a good thing but
    November 18, 2012 11:48 pm
    I think we've become so diverse in this country we're completely dysfunctional. There once was a time when people came to this country to escape war or poverty or some other bad situation but they learned english when they got here and they plugged themselves into society and became part of the great melting pot. Now we're more like the great cafeteria tray. Everyone divided from each other. Government forms and manuals printed in multiple languages. Automated phone lines where you have to push "1" to hear it in english. I think in an effort to encourage cultural diversity we did the exact opposite. We made it possible for people to come here, find their few square feet of space where they can live just as they did wherever they came from and avoid truly becoming part of society. Modern diversity has eliminated our ability to function as a whole and it's destroying our country. As far as the school system goes, I agree with 2112 that the parents are partly to blame and sohojo that the unions are part of the problem. I also would say that distribution of funds based on standardized testing is a huge problem. Even the rich schools with the most money teach a curriculum aimed at how to pass the test rather than actually teaching.
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  • sportsguru wrote...
    Op TK
    November 19, 2012 8:38 pm

    Pretty good assessment, I will add that when I was a kid, my mom could afford to stay home while my father worked, so there was always a parent in the home to be a part of the educational system. Now days, both parents have to work to make ends meet, therefore, taking that parent away from keeping the kid on track.

    When I got home, my mother was there making me do my homework before I went out to play or watch tv or what not. Now, you would be lucky if the parent was home when the kid made it home and the kid know it. In there defense, parents have to work with a whole new set of dynamic's then my parents had to work with.

    I was glad charter schools passed here in Washington, not so much because I think they will do such a better job than public school, but for the fact that I am glad that the public school has to compete against an alternative to the way they have been doing business, if charter schools get the job done, our public school system will have trouble staying relevant and will be force to do business in a way that produces results.

    When you don't have any competition, you can do what you want, make up any excuse that you want for failure and never be held accountable.

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  • anotherfencewalker wrote...
    The dumb get dumber..
    November 19, 2012 7:15 am
    In America, the trend for primary education is for parents to first find the best daytime babysitting service with a winning football team.
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