When you look back at American K-12 education for the past century, you first notice a preposterous parade of gimmicks and sophistries.  Junk food for the mind, or worse. Look again, and you see something even more disturbing: an endless supply of people willing to praise this stuff.  Without these hucksters, the Education Establishment could not sell its snake oil, and public schools could not have descended so far. These are no ordinary hucksters.  They may have the morals of used car salesmen, but almost without exception they have high intelligence and advanced degrees, typically a Ph.D. in education. Their most striking quality is a capacity for enthusiasm on behalf of things that don't merit enthusiasm. All the way back in 1928, H.L. Mencken perfectly captured the essence of our malaise.  "To take a PhD in education in most American seminaries, is an enterprise that requires no more real acumen or information than taking a...(Read Full Article)