"The Two Most Important Questions"

Bill Bennett the other day claimed that the two most important questions a society can ask of itself are "Who are the teachers?" and "What are they teaching?" I don't know if they are the most important, but they are right up near the top.

And, upon reflection, the answers don't exactly inspire confidence that we are on the correct path. I'll preface my brief remarks by saying there are some great, great teachers out there. I know that from personal experience. And, in fact, I commiserate over their frustration with incompetent and insecure administrators, unprepared and unmotivated students, and a society that rewards celebrity far more than achievement.

But, if I recall correctly (and I don't remember the studies), the teachers of the past 30 years wouldn't have been admitted to colleges 40 or 50 years ago. The education majors of today, with their easy education classes, still have the lowest GPAs of any college major. To answer the first question, those are our teachers (again, recognizing there are exceptions, some great teachers out there).

And they buy into all the crap the colleges, media, etc. throw at them. For instance, how many classes in the schools incorporate "man-made global warming" into their lessons/studies, even though it's purely theoretical, not at all provable (at least it hasn't been yet)? How many claim that carbon dioxide is a "pollutant," when it's actually a vital component of the eco-system? How many echo that FDR was a "great President" because that's what their textbooks and college professors have insisted? The list goes on. What follows from the previous paragraph is that there are no critical-thinking skills; there is no ability or even thought of questioning what is being taught. So, the same stuff gets passed down to current generations of students. What is it the computer geeks say, "Garbage in, Garbage out?"

Speaking of "out," out to take my casserole out of the oven and pop in my berry pie.