Where’s the sanity in today’s education?

To the editor:

There was a time when the purpose of public education in this democracy was the dissemination of as much factual information and cultural knowledge as possible, to as many youngsters a common foundation before allowing them to explore their individual talents. Some time ago the education pundits decided to turn the system upside down and allow students to find themselves and gain self-esteem before trying to impart any knowledge.

It was kind of like sitting children at a piano and letting them pound away at the keys until they composed a symphony rather than teach them the scales. And the result is two, going on three, generations of dumbed-down adults who are so busy trying to find themselves that they have lost the children they gave birth to; a generation of students who get credit for reading graphic novels (comic books) but can't read Tom Sawyer (if it is available in the school libraries); students who study history by down-loading the daily newspaper; and kids who take math tests by whipping out their lap tops.

And we have faculty members who have to be bribed with housing and pay raises to even baby-sit the kids.

The purpose of the federal No Child Left Behind law was to bring some objective standards and accountability back into public education. The people in charge, however, have drug their feet and ridiculed the idea every step of the way because it shows the fallacy of their education philosophy.

We must get back to some kind of sanity.

kent rischling

LAS VEGAS

Massive failure

To the editor:

Wow. Review-Journal columnist Erin Neff wrote about our failing schools and didn't suggest everything would be fixed if we would only throw more money at the problem. Maybe she missed her Kool-Aid that day.

And l bet letter writer Joe Gemma's niece, who is an honor student who can't pass the minimum math proficiency test required to graduate high school, can wax eloquent about global warming, diversity, and the evils perpetrated by the United States. It's no wonder there isn't time for mastering the basics of the real subjects needed to succeed as an adult.

I don't understand why there isn't a massive class-action suit against the education administration -- and everyone else with oversight responsibility -- for accepting public money while allowing this fraud to continue. If they were doing their job, would there have been any surprise at the test results?

Isn't this a crisis almost as bad as the colonoscopy center scandal? Where is the leadership to restore public confidence? Since these are all public employees, should we just look the other way without demanding revocation of any licenses and certificates?

How much worse do things have to get before the public finally rises up in righteous anger? No wonder people are being foreclosed on because they didn't understand their adjustable-rate mortgages could increase. Thank a public school administrator.

Robert Spriesterbach

LAS VEGAS

Reagan's fault

To the editor:

I had to double check to make sure that what I read on the Tuesday April 1 opinion page was really written by the editorial staff. Under the banner "Using bonds to balance budget a very bad idea," I read your disdain for the state government spending more that it takes in, thereby putting the burden on future citizens.

Is this the same editorial staff that for the past seven years has carried the banner for federal tax cuts at any cost? Nationally we face ballooning deficits brought on by a senseless, endless and expensive invasion and occupation, bloated energy prices caused in part by closed door energy deals led by the vice president, and a chaotic real estate market that is the result of unregulated and unscrupulous financial institutions who have monetarily raped hundreds of thousands of Americans.

Yet this has not slowed your campaign for additional tax cuts for billion-dollar oil companies and multimillion-dollar executives even though these tax giveaways make the national debt swell to unprecedented levels that will have to be paid for decades or centuries to come.

Why is runaway debt good for the federal government but not for the state? Could it be because the state bond scenario was recommended by Democratic state Sen. Dina Titus?

Mortgaging our future is wrong, both on the federal and state level. Unfortunately most of the problems Nevada is facing now have come as end results of the mismanagement of the national economy.

Guess we are finally experiencing what Ronald Reagan called a "trickle down" economy.

Randall Buie

HENDERSON