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On 20/20 this evening, John Stossel aired a special report called "Stupid in America."
I admit it, we are John Stossel fans in our home. Not that we agree with every opinion he has, but we admire his sensibility and the fact that he calls things as he sees them.
The program was very interesting, and seemed to reveal a debate of larger proportions going on in our country -- over deeper worldview issues, perhaps the ideas of Socialism v. Capitalism? Hmm. Well, this show may have been the kick in the pants I needed to finally get around to reading John Taylor Gatto's Underground History of American Education.
At the end of the program, Stossel said something along the lines of, "Well, this was our show on education. We hope it sparks a debate." Boy did it. If you missed the program, you can catch a few video clips here.
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INSIDE AMERICAN EDUCATION [1992] by Thomas Sowell. I read your dad's copy 10 years ago. Still true today. If you haven't already, check it out. Very enlightening.
From Library Journal
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"The purpose of education is to give the student the intellectual tools to analyze, whether verbally or numerically, and to reach conclusions based on logic and evidence." With these words begins a treatise on the failure of American education--elementary, secondary, and college levels--to prepare today's students for the future. Among the many causes of this failure are the poor intellectual capabilities of elementary and secondary school teachers; the politicizing of education, especially the emphasis on world-saving agendas; the affective approach to curriculum (striving to reshape the attitudes of students); and the presence of "assorted dogmas," including multicultural diversity, relevance, and educating the whole person. All these causes and more are clearly discussed, with some frightening true-life examples, to illustrate that students aren't learning the basics because the basics aren't being taught.
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