Jay Green, Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute and endowed chair and head of the Department of Education Reform at the University of Arkansas, strikes out at what he believes to be the myths that are keeping public schools from positive change in “Education Myths”. I believe Greene has an antipublic-school agenda, and distorts or misrepresents facts to make his points.
The purpose of this series of articles is to bring these deceptions to light point by point; paragraph by paragraph. I leave it to you to decide whose arguments hold the most weight.
Jay Greene’s “Education Myths,” paragraph 1
IntroductionMyths aren’t lies. They are beliefs that people adopt because they have an air of plausibility. But myths aren’t true, and they often get in the way during serious problem-solving. This essay identifies seven common myths that dominate established views of education these days. Dispelling these misconceptions could open the door to long-awaited improvement in our nation’s schools.
As I point out in my article “The Sky is Falling! The Sky is Falling!” published in Eclectic Review’s webzine, most public school critics begin their arguments with the assumption that our schools are failing and that any improvement over the years has been inadequate. Although more subtle than most, this article starts with the assumption that our school system is not working and people have been waiting for improvement that has not materialized
I will disprove this assumption as I examine the rest of Greene’s article.