They attempt to uncover the root causes of the chaos and lack of overall effectiveness in public education. First let's review what Dr. Bloom and Dr. Nash agree on concerning the condition of education in America. If one concept runs throughout both books, it is that ideas have consequences. This statement relates directly to the educational enterprise. Someone must decide what it means to be an educated person and consequently what students should know and believe when they are graduated from our schools.
Education can never be neutral because no individual is religiously neutral.
He goes one step further by asserting that all public policy is shaped by the ultimate concerns of those holding power in our culture. In other words, world views shape institutions and policies, which directly affect how children are educated. This concept of world view is central to the current firestorm surrounding education because it forms the basis for one's idea of a good life. What frightens Bloom and Nash is that there seems to be little disagreement among those who exercise the most power over our schools. Instead of a free marketplace of ideas,a monopoly of thought has systematically filtered out any alternatives.