Rarely do all but a few scholarly people question “common” knowledge that advocates, beneficiaries and “stakeholders” spread religiously about various ideologies and theories—“climate change,” “The rich don’t pay their fair share,” and government “investments” in education come to mind.
For decades progressives and statists have made vociferous calls for increased spending justified by an exaggerated (maybe even mythical) claim that the process of education warrants unlimited public funding because, somehow, it is a great benefit to all of us in American society.
Skeptics use evidence and reasoning to question “accepted facts” of these claims.
In fact, in the case of education, there was a time when a properly educated person learned to seek “truth” and question ideas and theories. In addition to personal improvement one’s knowledge did help many other people as wisdom was passed on.
However, to learn that, faculties at secondary schools and institutions of higher education demanded that students be prepared with English literature, history, civics, science and economics; subjects proven to be necessary for an educated person to become an informed, productive citizen. But those days are behind us.
In my opinion, politics, propaganda and pragmatism have pushed aside classic education. Others seem to share that view.
George Leef, research director for the Pope Center for Higher Education in Raleigh, comments on this subject in the August 2012 issue of the Carolina Journal. (link; pg.17) His longer original commentary is published by the Pope Center. (link)
Mr. Leef cites opposing views on the subject and makes a credible (and knowledgeable) case that government funded education has diluted and downgraded the purpose of higher education resulting in solid reasons to believe that we should “be leery of claims that we get more ‘education’… because government subsidizes it.”
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