Sudan and Schools

Over 50,000 Sudanese have been killed over the last few months in the latest round of genocide.  While the United Nations (typically) dithers, Darfurian rebel groups continue the ethnic cleansing that arises from “Balkanization.”  What is Balkanization?  With the collapse of Yugoslavia in the late 20th century, small-scale independence movements (formed along ethnic, cultural and…

Rights and Wrongs

This past Tuesday, nearly three out of four Missouri voters approved a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.  The vote was the first in the nation since the Massachusetts Supreme Court legalized same-sex weddings in that state.  But it will not be the last. To be fair, many in Missouri felt this issue had been thrust…

School's Out

In 1991, John Taylor Gatto received the New York State Public Teacher of the Year award.  Most of you are unfamiliar with his name; yet many of you have probably heard of his book, Dumbing Us Down.  Ever since its publication; writers and public officials have repeatedly lamented the “dumbing down” of education, citizenship, media…