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A lot of the tests that compare Finland to the U.S. doesn't take into account how individual states do. Massachusetts does a great job educating their kids, and is ranked very well, only a few points behind Finland. But when we look at the average we have several states that completely drag us down.

This has pros and cons. It's great that individual states are in charge of their education system and we've seen the push-back against common core when the fed tries to unite everyone under one roof. But, this does mean that individual states get to put education at their own pace and value it as so.