From: Lee Corbin (lcorbin@tsoft.com)
Date: Mon Aug 12 2002 - 23:44:14 MDT
Mike Wiik writes
[John Gatto] is putting his whole book online, chapter by
chapter http://www.johntaylorgatto.com/chapters/index.htm
I've read a little of it, and have come across paragraphs like
> Building a child's mind and character is what public schools
> do, their justification for prematurely breaking family and
> neighborhood learning...
and
> You can see this in the case of six-year-old Bianca, who
> came to my attention because an assistant principal screamed
> at her in front of an assembly, "BIANCA, YOU ANIMAL, SHUT UP!"
> Like the wail of a banshee, this sang the school doom of Bianca.
It is so typical of teachers to overestimate their influence to
the nth degree. John Gotto actually believes that the child is
his to make or break---a few bad teachers, and, oh well, write
off another kid.
Children are about as vulnerable to being "ruined" by poor
schools or poor schooling as little brothers are apt to be
traumatized by the bullying received from older brothers,
or little girls the taunting of classmates. Most of what
is true of each of us was determined by the genes, and most
of what wasn't was set in place by age six or seven. Find
me an identical twin study where one twin turned to a life
of crime and violence (or even low self-esteem) while the
other didn't.
To be sure, the author makes some excellent points, like the
fact that the $200,000 dollars spent per pupil in the U.S.
is mostly wasted, and that Americans probably should try
the free market approach to education. It would be vastly
better for principals to lie awake at night trying to think
of ways to make their schools more attractive to families
than trying to think of ways to pull some administrative
shenanigan on the central office.
> Where is documentary evidence to prove this assumption that
> trained and certified professionals do it better than people
> who know and love them can? There isn't any.
I think he's right here again, and so for sure this book will
present a mixed bag to most people, I'd bet.
Yet, as a final note, we must never forget the incredible
debt we as Americans owe the frightful state of American
public education. Think of what would have happened if the
average American had become as well educated as the average
citizen of France or Germany! Imbued with lofty ideals and
tuned in to the great ideological movements of the 20th
century, the highly educated Americans also would have
succumbed to socialism.
Lee
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