BLOG.SAINTSANDFOOLS.COM: May 7, 2009: John Taylor Gatto

Saints and Fools: The Blogcast

BLOG.SAINTSANDFOOLS.COM: May 7, 2009: John Taylor Gatto

May 7, 2009: John Taylor Gatto

    John Taylor Gatto
spent twenty nine years and eight months teaching in the New York City Public School System. In 1991, a year in which Mr. Gatto had been named the "New York City Teacher of the Year", John Taylor Gatto resigned in an Op-Ed piece submitted to the New York Times titled "I QUIT, I THINK" . In that letter, Mr. Gatto explained that he could not continue to "hurt" children any longer by continuing to work within a system which (among other things) destroys the family and subverts the proper role of education by preparing children to serve as "Human Resources" for industry rather than supporting the growth of the child in such a way as to prepare each individual to become their own personal best.

    John Taylor Gatto does not simply object to the idea of public education: Mr. Gatto objects to the notion of compulsory education as such - the notion that it is in anyway the proper role of the state to dictate the number of hours each day, days per week and years of each an every child's life that they should be required to be in attendance at any school - whether public or private. He explains how the whole idea of a prolonged adolescence is very recent idea which has been used to justify the present, predominant mode of education in the United States of America (along with many other nations). In Mr. Gatto's estimation, this has only served to artificially postpone the moment at which children are expected - or allowed - to mature into adults and become responsible, productive citizens. In defense of this position, Mr. Gatto reminds us of the tradition of apprenticeships and of the biographies of many notable individuals including Benjamin Franklin.

    A primary concern of those who have designed our system of compulsory education (according to Mr. Gatto) has been to prevent competition in the market. In support of this thesis, Mr. Gatto explains that our respective state board examinations strictly limit the number of people who can pass the medical boards and bar exams each year for the express purpose of preventing "too many" people from becoming doctors and lawyers. The practice of licensing exists for the same purpose. According to Mr. Gatto, our system of public education was originally created (at least in large part) by the same private and corporate interests who created the Federal Reserve System.

     Since retiring from the New York City Public School System, Mr. Gatto has publised Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling (1992); The Exhausted School (1993); A Different Kind of Teacher (2000); and The Underground History Of American Education (2001)andWeapons of Mass Instruction.   (Please click on these titles if you would like to consider purchasing any of these books from Mr. Gatto's website!)

    I was profoundly honoured to have Mr. Gatto as a guest on Saints and Fools. If you missed the show, please do yourself a great favor and click the play button below!