A parent recently provided insight into what has become of public schools: "The school district administrators are so nice to you in the meetings, while they are sticking a knife into your child's back." More than most people realize, K-12 is often a realm of duplicity.  The main strategy is to pretend to care about a subject or skill, but in fact to undermine it.  The educrats dissemble even as grades plummet, until the public is thoroughly confused about which reforms might actually work.  Despite endless chatter and assurances, there seems to be no genuine attempt to improve K-12.  Quite the opposite. The country is routinely lectured about problems with STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math).  For example: "STEM is gaining momentum in classrooms across the country.  However, the U.S. still ranks 38th and 24th out of 71 developed countries in math and science...(Read Full Article)