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I don’t know the specifics but I do know that today’s public schools teach next to nothing about economics. And they do teach is Left, Left, Left.

I am honestly at a loss to decide if the dumbing down of America has been the result of a conspiracy or just the natural result of unions and Leftists taking over education. I guess it could be both. Someone is pulling the strings and taking advantage of the fact that unions and the Left lean toward the beliefs of those who would take us down.

We have two sons in high school, so we see school dynamics up close. There is a huge range in the depth of education within our district. Youngsters who are hard working and adept may have a very challenging curriculum while other students are in very basic courses. As long as all are learning to the best of their ability, I see this as a reasonable situation.

Our 16 year old is studying calculus and physics on nearly the same level as I studied as a college freshman. I don't see lefty politics intruding here at all. Things are a bit less rosy when we move away from the math and physical science curricula. The Honors World Lit course our older son is taking recently sent him home with instructions on interpreting a reading through the lenses of Freudian, Feminist and Marxist philosophy. I found this a bit limited, and the instructions were written in especially poor quality gobbledygook. If it's one assignment, I can live with it, but our son tells us the teacher is a real lefty feminist, so there is likely more to come. His Honors History text is pretty comprehensive, and not excessively politically correct by today's standards.

Over the years, it has seemed to me that the leftward tilt in our local educational community is not so much in the curriculum (except for global warming crap in the science classroom) as it is in the community itself. We see a lot of soft-headed mush in the PTO and in choices of charities to support. Individual teachers can inflict political correctness in the classroom without it appearing in the textbooks. Our younger son knows which of his teachers and classmates are generally more right leaning and knows when to speak judiciously lest he jeopardize his grades. It's an interesting process.

I have a measure of optimism about one aspect of normal development. Young people tend to rebel against heavy handed indoctrination by their elders. The baby boomer generation has imposed some very heavy indoctrination on these kids, and I believe eventually they will generate a backlash. As young people graduate into an economy which can't provide them with meaningful jobs, this may accelerate.