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Provoked by an interesting article, The Educational System Was Designed to Keep Us Uneducated and Docile:

Of all the things that get me rattled politically and socially, education is my hot issue. The stance I take on where I feel America needs to head educationally is probably my most "controversial". I will probably live my life out as one of those crazy people who screamed "we suck!" in the corner, but oh well, one of these days, my kids will be some smart cookies if I can help it. In a nut shell, I think our entire educational structure from preschool through graduate school stinks.

For hot talk on education, I frequent the edublog of Joanne Jacobs, a former columnist currently writing a book on establishing a charter school. She generally articulates the typical Right-Wing slant on most aspects of education. I agree with her maybe 50% of the time. I only bring this up because a few weeks ago, I dropped some thoughts in her "comment section" that nearly got me strung up on a tree. I said the dreaded words: "Educational Reform". I put forth my opinion that there are other countries whose primary and secondary educational programs outmatch us by a long shot. People weren't happy. (sidenote: if I hadn't already made up my mind about political affiliations, the nasty and foul attitude of certain "Republicans" who when challenged, lash out with profanity-laced and childish belittlement, could have been enough to drive me far, far away).

It seems many Americans are hostile to the notion that we don't have the best educational system in the world. America has a problem admitting that they're not the best in virtually everything. Seems to me some three years ago tomorrow, in our shock that we didn't have fortitude, that got us in a lot of trouble.

I beg to differ on a lot of things, but I demand to differ on this subject. We graduate most 12th graders speaking only one language (and not too well if you ask me). We graduate most college students without the ability to intelligently and thoroughly reason.

Usually, when I start attacking America's educational system, people get all bent (vernacular translation: offended), and start pointing to Harvard and Yale, the other Ivy League gods, and all the wonderful historians, and theologians, and philosophers, and scientists and powerful people our fabulous nation has produced. To be honest, with all the opportunity available in America, we should really be pushing out three times as many "fabulously smart and wonderful" contributing members of society. In America, the average 13-year-old probably can't engage you in a discussion on foreign policy (heck, even I can't). Meanwhile, little 12-year-old Taiwanese kids are breezing through calculus during lunchtime.

*Claps hands* Get a grip America, we don't have it all together. As arrogant as Americans are, I can't believe we have the nerve to talk bad about the French (who happen to cook much better than we do in my opinion). Americans INVENTED the word "arrogant". The problem is, as a country, we do a really bad job of teaching young people how to "think". Too many people are book-smart (and even that's on the decline) or fact-smart or hearsay-smart. Few are independently smart.

Call me crazy, but I refuse to remain stuck worshipping a past era of dead "greats" and "genuniuses". This is the 21st-century and I think we have more to offer. Where are the modern-day inventors? Watching television that's where. Working on their "timestables", that's where. Slowly drudging their way through what should be "easy math" because we don't teach kids how to use their brains as calculators.

A few months ago, when I wrote on the use of hip-hop in education, I got a bit of opposition. A reader suggested that he didn't think any type of "genius" would ever emerge from a culture like hip-hop. I think I just got my dissertation topic.

Is it really that blasphemous to suggest that our stale, Greek method of teaching may not be the most effective? I don't think we've even come close to nailing it.