The Conspiracy of Ignorance: The Failure of American Public Schools

by Martin L. Gross

In this global age of information, nothing should alarm American parents and leaders more than the failure of our public schools. As quality education of the young becomes the true international currency, that commodity--unfortunately--is in grievously short supply. American schoolchildren lag far behind students in most of the developed world, scoring nineteenth out of twenty-one countries in a recent math competition. On domestic exams, almost forty percent are reading at "below basic" levels. In this candid, provocative, and comprehensive study of the public school system, from kindergarten through high school, bestselling author Martin L. Gross charges that the Education Establishment has nurtured a conspiracy of ignorance that promotes and defends lower standards of teaching and learning designed to maintain its monopoly on our public schools. The verdict is The teaching vocation has failed to produce competent teachers, penalizing its 45 million public school students. The problem is that the Establishment--from a tight group of teachers, principals, superintendents, education professors, and counselors, to the state commissioners of education--selects mainly academically inferior teacher candidates, and ignoring time-tested fundamentals, trains them in such dubious concepts as "educational psychology" and a "whole language" method of reading that ignores proper grammar and spelling. In a series of shocking revelations, Mr. Gross describes how the typical teacher learns little more than a two-year community college graduate; how the average college-bound student scores fifty points higher on his SAT exams than most of his teachers; how the great majority of school teachers are less trained in their own specialties than other college graduates in the same field; and how "untrained" teachers in both private and public schools perform better than Establishment graduates. The usual remedies--from federal aid to smaller class sizes--have done nothing to alleviate these problems because they make no attempt to challenge the Education Establishment's control. In a powerful Bill of Indictment, Mr. Gross shows how the teaching vocation, aided by its unions, maintains a self-perpetuating cycle of low performance, and he offers his own detailed prescription for change that will raise public education to the level our children--and society--need and deserve. The Conspiracy of Ignorance is a lucid, persuasive argument based on a wealth of research that asks the questions most education observers are afraid to ask. It is a book desperately needed to ensure that American schoolchildren will have a chance to prosper as educated and productive citizens in today's world.

Genres: Education, Nonfiction

304 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1999

Reviews

[Dale Jr. · Rating 1 out of 5]

Though outdated, I figured there'd be some redeeming qualities within this book. There's not.

Gross writes in such a pompous "I told you so" manner that it becomes unbearably annoying by the second chapter. I managed to only finish three chapters before throwing in the towel. A rare occurrence for me regardless of how bad a book is.

It's not to say that Gross doesn't have some valid points, but they're presented in such an immature and amateur way that one can't help but to be annoyed by the style.

Tossing this one in the Goodwill bin. Maybe someone will find it interesting or, at the very least, even out their kitchen table with it.

[Zach · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I certainly don’t agree with all of Gross’s conclusions as a practicing teacher I found his critique of teacher education to be very close to my experiences. Some of his ideas were tested in NCLB and did not create the results everyone hoped for. Other ideas move farther and farther from the mainstream. We need this and other critiques to keep us balanced and continually striving to do better as we educate our children.

[Whitney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Besides solidifying my desire to home school, I love the ideas he gives for how to improve the public school system. It's a bit outdated, but I don't think the core ideas are any less applicable. If anything they're more so, as it becomes more and more painfully obvious that the 'reforms' we have tried in the intervening years are not fixing anything, and have possibly made things worse. Some of his basic ideas are to remove 'teaching' from the offerings as a college degree and instead have college graduates in real disciplines take a graduate level 1 year teaching program that mostly involves student teaching. He also wants to dramatically improve (read intensify) the school curriculum for all children, but especially after elementary school level. If you squint and stand on your head the common core almost looks like what he wants, but it has gone horribly wrong, in my opinion.

[Concrastinator7 · Rating 3 out of 5]

A delightfully written diatribe on current ills in modern American grade schools. Slightly outdated (it was written before No Child Left Behind and other efforts to change), much of its content is still quite applicable. Many of the suggestions made to restore American education to previous levels of quality, if not exceed them, are timeless and spot on. I especially appreciate pointing out that the fact that exams are not sufficient to measure overall capability does not mean they are not necessary.

[Channing · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't agree with everything he says but very enlightening. He has studies to back up everything I've ever felt about schools. Amazing that our schools can produce such abysmal results and people still doubt I am capable of teaching my children myself.

[William Lawrence · Rating 1 out of 5]

The most unscholarly book that has ever labelled others unscholarly. There were so many other areas of education he could have criticized, but he picked ones that were just opinionated political attacks. The only conspiracy in this book was the author.

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

"most of the nonperformance of our schoolchildren comes from two sources: the intellectual deficiency of their teacher and the wrongheadedness of their teachers' training and philosophy." p.41

[Sara Sise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dated now but excellent read regarding state of public education.