"I'm curious Sue, do you have any home or otherwise schooled kids?"

I shudder at the thought of ever having children. I've made it a point to never let myself get in that position. (Ask some of the long-timers here if my having children seems like a good idea.. I KNOW what the answers will be.)

I started school in 1955, the same year Rudolf Flesch's book Why Johnny Can't Read came out. I spent twelve years in the public school system, the last half wondering why it seemed to totally insane.

When I read John Taylor Gatto's book Dumbing Us Down several years ago, I was shocked at all the parallels between the what I had seen/experienced, and his explanation of the why of it. All through this book I was thinking, "Yes! I remember them doing that!" and "YES! I always wondered why they did that!" and so forth.

We have been one of the richest and most influential countries of the world for a good, long time now, yet we have the poorest educational system in the industrialized world. Rock bottom, dead last. But I guess that ignorant people are easier to control than educated ones. And it seems to be working just fine, doesn't it?

Sue