I work in education, and have been troubled by what I see. 5th graders who count on their fingers to add, who can't do long division and their spelling and grammar are simply awful! By 8th grade nothing has improved! My 8th graders, as a group, have trouble adding fraction and they are expected to be doing algebra! Much as I hated it myself, I am beginning to think we should go back to rote learning with the kids chanting their times tables. America used to be tops when it comes to education- we are falling rapidly.

Schools are cutting art, sports and music programs. My school is filthy- the janitors mop the floors once a year. Floors are supposed to be swept nightly, but are not. Swings that were tangled by vandals three weeks ago, are still tangled. The blacktop is cracked in spots with cracks an inch wide. Cameras are everywhere, watching. School nurse and the librarian are part-time jobs. (I keep praying that if a kid does manage to hurt themselves seriously, the nurse will be at school that day.) Aides are a part-time job, so the district doesn't have to give benefits to them. Teachers are asked to deal with an ever growing number of undereducated students.

America the dumb is becoming a reality (why, just look who's the prez!). That is our future- a nation of fools concerned with the a Academy Awards, not the Nobel Prize; more into the Xbox than global warming; unable to do the simplest math without a calculator and unable to write without spell-check.