John Taylor Gatto....my hat is off to you, sir. For you have managed to put into words my true regards for education and the schooling system, the corrupt, useless, failing body that it is...

This essay was brilliantly written, wonderfully supported, and all-together captivating. I agree wholeheartedly with Gatto’s philosophy. He states the public schooling, which has been in practice for roughly a century, has six main functions:

1.      Adjustive …destroys the idea that useful/interesting material should be taught

2.      Integrating …makes children as alike as possible

3.      Directive…logs evidence mathematically and anecdotally on your permanent record.

4.      Differentiating…sorted and trained only so far as their destination in the social machine merits (not exactly rising to full potential)

5.      Selective…establishes the pecking order

6.      Propaedeutic…teaches a small group to manage the continuation of the societal system and how to continue cultivating a population that is deliberately dumbed down

NONE OF THESE “FUNCTIONS” ARE DOING ANY GOOD!!!

Gatto said that the solution is “simple and glorious; to let them manage themselves.” Amen, brother. As someone who was able to bypass the drama of high school and shrink five years of what would have been time wasted sitting in a classroom into just two years jam-packed with useful information and skills, I love the idea of allowing kids to learn at their own pace, have a say in their curriculum, and be forced to hold themselves to a higher standard! I am certainly ‘against school’….are you?