This debate has been raging in K-12 education for a century. 

 "Meaning from print" is the foundational sophistry supporting Whole Word, sight-words, and all other non-phonetic ways to read, or to teach reading.

 The big lie here is that you can look at print, not actually be able to read, but somehow get the meaning. (This is what we all do in foreign countries when we stare at a menu in a strange language.)

 I've been watching this debate for…

The official view of dyslexia is  that it is a mental impairment which a great percentage of children are born with. They bring this defect to the classroom. Naturally no reasonable person would expect our public schools to teach these defective students how to read, etc.  

 In this way, when schools decline and reading scores drop still lower, the Education Establishment has an all-purpose…

Quora asked people to name the biggest scams and cons in American history. A lot of entertaining answers are given.

I think the obvious answer is: using reading instruction that you know won't work. That is, any reading instruction that is non-phonetic and requires children to memorize words as graphic designs.

 I write about this stuff all the time. So I get a chance to see how completely inertial the society is. All the big shots, the…