I spent an hour on the phone tonight with an 85 year old Reagan Republican who started as a teacher and ended up a vice principal and then a principal at some of our local high schools for over 20 years. She is a retired head of the retired teachers association. She escaped the poverty of post war Germany by marrying an American soldier. They are still married. Strangely, we discussed what I read in the op/ed that started this thread and she said almost exactly what you just wrote.
I am a baby boomer as is the author of the op/ed. When I was a kid average class size in our public schools was between 30 and 40 students. In dollars adjusted for inflation our local public school district now spends almost exactly three times as much per student as when I was in school.
One fact that a lot of my baby boomer brethren do not seem to be aware of is that in most cases the performance of current high school graduates from our local school systems on standardized tests is far lower than when we baby boomers graduated. In many cases those who receive associates degrees from community colleges and even some of those graduating with four year degrees are not as well educated as those of us who received a high school diploma forty years ago. This is even more true in critical thinking than in math and English.
All of our own children graduated a long time ago, but we have a whole heard of nieces nephews and grandchildren in public schools. When I try to have a discussion with any of them it becomes obvious quickly that their critical thinking abilities are especially deficient. They are able to parrot what their liberal teachers and the mass media have told them. When you ask questions that challenge the belief system they have been indoctrinated with it causes them to become agitated. Their ability to comprehend anything that contradicts what they have been spoon fed is nearly nonexistent. Unfortunately, further “education” by liberals who have taken over all levels of public education from preschool through graduate school is unlikely to expand these young people's horizon. They have almost no exposure to rational conservative thought.
You make some excellent observations.
My feelings about my watered down education is I learned in my undergrad work what I should have learned in HS, my grad work, what I should have learned as an undergrad, and that was over 20 years ago.
Generally speaking, if I read a book about literary criticism or grammar, I usually look for authors who were educated before the 50s or for texts written before then.
There was another thread on this site about Colorado students sexting. Educators are more concerned with children’s sexuality than their education. They think many of our difficulties stem from our sense or perceptions of sexuality. Had they been taught critical thinking/classic logic and the value of a solid sense of virtue along with some basic reading and math skills, I do not believe we would be reading such things.