a must read

Everyone should be reading The Blackboard Jungle. Lectrice has an amazing way with words: engaging, emotional, intelligent, pointed. Her take on chaos theory and the mindless response of the educational system is spot-on - and she's not even talking about American schools!

Kliebard said, in Struggle for the American Curriclum, that schools are for adults, not children. Yep. Schools have never been about equality or opportunity or advancement or ability. They've been touted as such, feeding into that mythical Golden Age of Education, but they haven't lived up to the hype. Public schools in this country - in every country? - were created to sanitize the unwashed masses, to produce a common denominator from the general public, to provide a modicum of literacy for the workforce.

That said, I'm not poised to dismantle the public education system in this country. Despite everything, I believe there is great good to be found in our schools - a teacher's efforts to provide stimulating lessons to her students or the students' simple ability to ride a school bus without total anarchy. Some children do find opportunity through education, some do hone their writing abilities, some do have access to opportunities beyond their typical lives. Some, not all. It should be all.