And here I thought "Dark World of Compulsory Schooling" was a dramatic subtitle.

[greyseal]

I just finished Weapons of Mass Instruction by John Taylor Gatto, the only Gatto book I could get on short notice from the library. While at times it was a bit unfocused, it was utterly, completely compelling

Comments

[foldsfan1959]

Most of you know I intend to homeschool my kids

I did not know this. May I be so nosy as to ask why?

[greyseal]

Of course! Short version: I'm pretty opposed to the conveyor belt style of mass education. It's outdated, inefficient at producing optimal educational results, heavily biased toward standardized testing, stymied by a teacher's union that doesn't have kids' interests at heart (at least not when their interests don't dovetail with teachers' interests), slow to improve, and subject to questionable curriculum "innovation."

I begrudge no one their decision to send their child to public school, though. I am preparing to join a homeschool cooperative, which would be sort of a happy medium between a small, independent private school and full-on home education. Seattle has a vibrant and active homeschool community with which I'm already starting to mix and mingle.