Here?s the problem, and some things we can do about it.<br><br>The public schools are geniuses at Chatter. That would mean proposals, press releases, announcements, alibis, pedagogical breakthroughs, denials, new methods, claims, innovations, sophistries, statistics, excuses, reorganization schemes, cover-ups, revised test scores, lies, explanations, more excuses.<br><br>What the public schools are not good at, unfortunately, is Content. That would mean such mundane things as where Spain is on a map, what snow is, how much 5 x 7 is , the Civil War occurred in what century, in what direction did Columbus sail when he left Spain, what are the names of the oceans, how many quarts are in a gallon, where is the Eiffel Tower, how many stars are on the American flag, at what temperature does water freeze, name a country in the southern hemisphere, Shakespeare did what?<br><br>That old expression ?all talk and no action" perfectly describes the surreal world that exists in many public schools. There is such a frenzy of activity, you might suppose yourself to be in Times Square. I?m more and more convinced that much of this activity is hollow and best described as the Big Pretend.<br><br>I?ve been obsessed with this counterintuitive finding for years. First, how could we ever explain it?? Well, this turned out to be much easier than I thought. The historical record, I discovered, is starkly clear. Starting a century ago, John Dewey and all of his successors (i.e., the current Education Establishment) showed little regard for Content. Instead, they wanted to prepare America?s children for socialism. They wanted cooperative kids, not academic achievers. Throughout the past hundred years, parents have demanded Content; and all that time the top educators have played a sly game of delivering as little as possible, in conformity with Dewey?s philosophy.<br><br>What can we do about this perverted situation where empty Chatter is king, and true Content is rabble? Ideally, we would have a change of regime at the very top, at Teachers College et al. Barring such luck, we need a lot more of what I call Parallel Education, which is everything done OUTSIDE of the public schools to compensate for the bad job done INSIDE the public schools.<br><br>Already this activity is vast and multi-faceted. Learning centers, tutoring services, educational TV, and self-help books are big business. Homeschooling occurred mainly in response to inferior public education. One might think the Education Establishment would be embarrassed by all the frenzy they have caused. Be that as it may, they?re don?t appear sufficiently embarrassed to do a better job. Clearly, we need more Parallel Education.<br><br>But here?s a big problem. Parents often don?t know how to judge what is happening in the local school. When should parents initiate Plan B? Grade inflation conceals many a sad reality. Children can slip several years behind. This phenomenon is perhaps the single greatest sin committed by the country?s public schools.<br><br>I started wondering, suppose parents had simple benchmarks by which to judge the progress of their children. Really simple guidelines, comparable to ?walk by two, talk by three.? Basically, we want to establish REASONABLE MINIMUMS below which children would not be allowed to fall.<br><br>My first shot at creating such benchmarks is called ?43: American Basic Curriculum" (ABC). This is very simple material. Every reader will think of improvements; but please don?t get bogged down in details. We need to specify, but briefly, the approximate levels that children should reach at each grade of their education. The benchmark for 2nd grade math is simply this: ?Count to 50; add and subtract 2-digit numbers?<br><br>American Basic Curriculum gives parents more insight and control. They can compare notes. Can your child do this? Can your child do that?<br><br>?43: American Basic Curriculum? can be found on Improve-Education.org. This three-part article includes a discussion of Parallel Education, and the importance of Foundational Knowledge.