Dumbing Down Our Kids:  Why American Children Feel Good About Themselves but Can't Read, Write or Add by Charles J. Sykes

Sykes is just one of scores of people who've been warning Americans that public schools are no longer failing; PUBLIC SCHOOLS ARE A FAILURE, period.  Why aren't parents listening?!

Feeling good has replaced facts in government schools.  Knowledge and learning itself is secondary to having fun in its classrooms.  SAT scores dropped way back in 1963 and haven't risen.  No, today's average SAT score of about 1020 reflects the College Board's 1995 decision to re-center SAT scores, which in layman's terms means they added about 100 points to the scores.  Kids aren't doing any better, but their scores look better and that makes them and their parents feel better.

But it gets worse.  The SAT no longer includes antonyms or verbal analogies, and students can use calculators on the math section.  What's more, students with those James Bond-style IEPs (Individual Education Program) that allow them "extra time" can take as long as they like to take the test.  Still, their scores stay low.  And the SAT is just one hundreds of standardized tests that reflect what kids are not learning in public schools today.

Parents who pretend their local school isn't "as bad" as those schools they hear about on the news are only deceiving themselves.  One day, they'll regret, but it'll be too late.  Being dumb on purpose is just plain stupid.  Read this book and as many like as you can then try to say public schools aren't as bad as, as what?  Prison?  A communist state?