Friday, May 30, 2008

Required Reading

Intellectual historian Susan Jacoby on our misuse of the term elite:
All the older forms of elite-bashing have now devolved into a kind of aggressive denial of the threat to American democracy posed by public ignorance.
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2 comments:

Mary Ann said...

Misuse of the word "elite" is part of the problem. The root of the problem is the reverse snobbery that suggests that being among the best is a bad thing. I didn't understand this when my father teased me, "If you're so smart why ain't you rich." But I began to understand as I watched with dismay as Dryden schools dismantled the "high academic" program that had benefited my kids so much.

I make no apology for the fact that I want our elected officials to be the smartest, best educated people we can find. Elitist? Maybe.

I renew my call for teaching philosophy, including semantics, beginning in kindergarten.

May 31, 2008 at 8:59 AM
KAZ said...

I'd like to hear more about the high academic program. We have a new member of the board who's a specialist in gifted & talented kids--runs a camp for them at Vassar. So there's a chance we could ram something through before my time ends so people stop asking why I don't enroll O in private school (as if there's such a choice in Dryden).

May 31, 2008 at 9:26 AM

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