Problems with Public Schooling

John Taylor Gatto is well known in the homeschooling world. He has written articles and books that give an inside look into the compulsory schooling system. In his article, “Against School”, he talks about how public education is the worst possible way for a child to become educated. Not only does he refer to his own experiences as a teacher for over thirty years, he uses extensive research to back up his claims. In the article, he discusses the boredom of both students and teachers. He also spends a lot of time discussing the childishness rampant in the schools, both among students and adults. Boredom seems to be a common, accepted condition of anyone involved in the twelve-year compulsory school system.

Gatto wonders why schools are so boring and comes up with the answer that they might be designed to keep children from ever growing up. Boredom, he knows, is a condition of childishness, not maturity. He learned that lesson from his grandfather at the tender age of seven, when he was strongly reprimanded for whining about being bored.

Gatto questions the need, not for education, but for compulsory schooling in its current format. His article mentions many famous Americans who never had the “benefit” of that style of schooling. It describes some of their achievements, often at what we consider very young ages. Until recently, no one over the age of thirteen was considered a child.

Americans confuse education with schooling and often believe schooling leads to success. Many people around the world find ways to educate themselves without this prison-like system, he contends. Gatto’s article gives a history of compulsory schooling and an explanation of its true purpose. He quotes H.L. Mencken’s who claims that the a...

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...et the educational goals the parents set for the child.

So, if this is such a great idea, why don’t teachers get behind it? Albert Shanker, past president of American Federation of Teachers, says it best, “When school children start paying union dues, that’s when I'll start representing the interests of school children.”

If parents take learning into their own hands, how will the government ever be able to manage the genius unleashed into the world by a population of educated men and women? The answer, Gatto says, is to let them manage themselves.

Works Cited

Gatto, J. T. (10/11). Against School. Annual Editions: Social Problems , pp. 134-137.

Homeschool Legal Defense Association. (2004, October 22). Academic Statistics on Homeschooling. Retrieved July 8, 2011, from Homeschool Legal Defense Association: http://www.hslda.org/docs/nche/000010/200410250.asp