cantifly 's review for:

Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling by John Taylor Gatto

2.0

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This collection of essays was very hit or miss for me. One moment I'd be nodding along in agreement, the next I'd have to pause for a moment to confirm the borderline ridiculous thing I'd just read was - in fact - what I thought I read. I'm definitely not bought in on the idea that the way to handle education is to essentially "let the market sort itself out," that things were somehow better for the general populace 400 years ago, and that the puritans somehow miraculously figured out tolerance by themselves (they didn't -- the persecution of Quakers was outlawed by Royal edict), but I get where his general premise is coming from. I think a lot of his criticisms of public school are valid, but his "solution" is untenable for 21st century America.