My sense of the world is that our Education Establishment is doing a crummy job on purpose, and even worse our local media stand silently by, and our local leaders remain relentlessly passive.

Every organization I look at –  the media, elite groups like PEN, Ivy League universities, Chamber of Commerce, religious groups-- all seem to be determined to stand well aside so that our Education Establishment can do whatever it wants to the kids. Make more millions of illiterate children? Sure, go ahead!

 I was just looking at a site for LD kids, that's learning disabilities. And this site chatters on and on about how the kids need to learn to read. But they don't come down with the main fact. If you don't have systematic phonics in the first grade, the children will not learn to read and many will develop so-called disabilities. The best name for these disabilities is "schoolitis." You don't have it when you go in, but the school will give it to you for free. And then the school will make money by providing remediation.

 So my constant theme is, if you want some education reform, you will have to do it yourself. Please start now. But it sure would be helpful if our media and community organizations jumped in to the battle. Please, everybody think about how to wake them up.

 For more discussion of these points, here's an article on Canada Free Press: "An urgent plea to our local  media."

http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/70618

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