"...schools are supposed to prepare children..."

Thomas Sowell has an interesting comment on the recent problems we've seen in the schools. This link leads to Townhall.com, a fine political web site, but be warned that sometimes the readers comments can be rude and crude.

I normally don't quote articles at any length, but this section is well worth it:

The mindset that sees children in school as an opportunity for teachers to impose their own notions, instead of developing the child's ability to think for himself or herself, is a dangerous distortion of education.

Parents send their children to school to acquire the knowledge that has come down to us as a legacy of our culture-- whether it is mathematics, science, or whatever-- so that those children can grow up and go out into the world equipped to face life's challenges.

Too many "educators" see teaching not as a responsibility to the students but as an opportunity for themselves-- whether to indoctrinate a captive audience with the teacher's ideology, manipulate them in social experiments or just do fun things that make teaching easier, whether or not it really educates the child.

The commentary is well worth reading. Whether we home school, or choose private schools, we, as parents, will have greater influence over the education of our children. We cannot leave their education to the discretion of others, "experts"or not.