Why do we have such a failed system? Could it be the policies of

76 Teaching Minds Why do we have such a failed system? Could it be the policies of presidents like Clinton, who pursued a policy of never offending the teachers unions by doing anything threatening to them, like changing the curriculum? Or, could it be that people such as this writer define education in terms of random facts they wished everyone knew? The problem is not that people don’t know who Thomas Jefferson was. If citizens knew who he was, would that mean that they could think clearly and not be influenced by all the special interests who were trying to tell them what to think? If they knew who George Washington was, what exactly would they know about him? That he could never tell a lie? This is obviously untrue, and many have written about what a good liar he actually was. That he was a brilliant general? There is lots of evidence against that. That he owned 300 slaves? This is not usually mentioned. That he married a rich woman probably so he could get her land? Historians discuss this. Schools never do. Nevertheless, peo- ple are upset because our students don’t know our national myths and some random facts. The real issue in the healthcare debate is that the general public can’t think clearly. That would have a simple explanation. The schools don’t even try to teach people to think clearly. I mentioned President Clinton above, but really all U.S. presidents are culpable. It may not be their fault. Certainly they are given terrible information. Lamar Alexander, former Secretary of Education (under George H.W. Bush) was speaking in the U.S. Senate recently on restoring teaching history to its “rightful place” and making sure that history was part of the NCLB act. Here is a quote from him from 2006: Just one example of how far we are from helping our children learn what they need to know. The fourth grade national report card test asked students to identify the following passage, “We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.” Students were given four choices: Constitution, Mayflower Compact, Declaration of Independence, and Articles of Confederation. Less than HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_023822