Declining U.S. Educational Standards and What They Mean

The story here about Dr, Suess is a great one by all accounts, but what struck me hardest was the phrase “chance encounter….old college friend.”

I wish to take away absolutely nothing from Dr. Suess and the amazingly positive effect he’s had on young people everywhere, but I do want to point out that a very slim minority of people on this planet are in positions where such experiences like his are possible.

A college education–from any college–is far from universal; in fact, Canada (56%) and Japan (51%) are the only two  countries on Earth where a majority of adults have earned a bachelor’s degree.

Moreover, Dr. Suess (Theodor Seuss Geisel) graduated from an Ivy League school (Dartmouth).  How likely is it that an old college buddy from Penn State or Central Florida would have been in such a position to help?

Part of what is tearing this country apart at the seams is its unwillingness to invest in its young people.  And as the years pass, our standards continue to decline even further; now it’s fashionable to question the value of higher education entirely, on the basis that it cranks out socialists.

Many of us are actually happy that our children are incapable of critical thinking, and simply do as they are told.  To call this frightening puts it mildly.