...good Things Happen To The Human Spirit

Curiosity Has No Important Place In My Work, Only Conformity.

The Shocking Possibility That Dumb People Don't Exist In Sufficient Numbers To Warrant The Millions Of Careers Devoted To Tending Them Will Seem Incredible To You. Yet That Is My Central Proposition: The Mass Dumbness Which Justifies Official Schooling First Had To Be Dreamed Of; It Isn't Real.

We Could Encourage The Best Qualities Of Youthfulness - Curiosity, Adventure, Resilience, The Capacity For Surprising Insight Simply By Being More Flexible About Time, Texts, And Tests, By Introducing Kids Into Truly Competent Adults, And By Giving Each Student What Autonomy He Or She Needs In Order To Take A Risk Every Now And Then. But We Don't Do That.

In Our Secular Society, School Has Become The Replacement For Church, And Like Church It Requires That Its Teachings Must Be Taken On Faith.

The Truth Is That Schools Don't Really Teach Anything Except How To Obey Orders. This Is A Great Mystery To Me Because Thousands Of Humane, Caring People Work In Schools As Teachers And Aides And Administrators, But The Abstract Logic Of The Institution Overwhelms Their Individual Contributions.