"I had no idea - none - what it means to be in a school system that's mostly working."

School systems work only if the parents INSIST that they do. There was an incident in FL some years ago where the parents DEMANDED that the schools change from the insane see/say method of teaching reading to phonics/phonetics. Schools in Israel changed to the American method of teaching reading for three years and then the parents were SCREAMING to change back to the sensible method of phonetics.

But the US has been using the see/say method for generations, and the parents who were raised on it see no need for change -- after all, how would they know any difference when THEY can barely read? I read somewhere that 30% of Americans can't understand the instructions on a prescription label. That's beyond pathetic, it's criminal.

And schools that can't even teach kids to read certainly aren't going to teach them how to THINK. I guess "it's not their job".

Sue