Quote Originally Posted by wufwugy View Post
Finland's system could be better too. Finland is in a unique situation where it has a small, mostly homogeneous population of people who share similar culture and values. In this kind of place, it's not that hard to have a public system that's generally all right because the subjects generally want the same things. There are still some drawbacks, but they're the kind that Americans care more about and Finnish probably don't.
Finland is both population-wise and geographically the size of an average US state. To my understanding schools and their governance operates there on state level, so I would argue that size is of consequence here. What things are wanted from American schools that's different to Finland? I'd think most just want quality affordable education. Just having a few different religions or cultures practiced by the students is not an issue, it's already accommodated in Finland.

Quote Originally Posted by wufwugy View Post
Transplanting this to a diverse population would spell disaster. The funny thing is that a lot of what American conservatives and Trump supporters are fighting for are things that Finland already values and already has. We want to be able to govern ourselves like you guys do. Finnish government is much more representative of the Finnish people than the American federal government is of American people. Some of our state governments are probably about as representative, but most aren't.
The key points are to have a single payer system that ensures all kids regardless of background and location have access to the same level of schools for free, there's no competition for best schools since they're all the same. Teachers are respected and you're required a university degree to become one. There's less homework, less standardized tests and more focus on creativity. I don't see how any of this would spell disaster.