The Decline of Excellence: A Proneness Toward Mediocrity

The public schools of the U.S. are under fire! But, why? Do you recognize the apathy and disorder of this classroom in your school? I hope not. “Morning at a West Coast high school. The first-period bell rings, barely audible above the classroom din. ‘O.K., everybody settle down,’ says the soft-spoken teacher of the course called Modern Problems. Her two dozen students, grouped around seven tables, pay scant attention. She switches on a video machine by her desk; a neatly categorized outline...