Nowhere in the world, he said, were there so few learned people, yet so few ignorant. Today, his comment should be turned on its head. Circa 2000, nowhere in the developed world are there so many ignorant schoolchildren as in America. . . . . The school curriculum is weak, short on history and geography, deficient in composition, spelling and grammar, and backward in science and math. Teacher training is lax.
Undergraduate education is little better than that offered by two-year community colleges.
Tenure protects the most inadequate of teachers. Teachers' unions are political organizations masquerading as professional groups. Would-be teachers usually come from the bottom third of high school graduates. Laypeople who teach do as well or better as do graduates of education colleges. The field is top heavy with overpaid administrators.