Good opinion piece/article. You left out a lot, so we'll (hopefully) look forward to a book-length treatment or perhaps essays on this subject from twenty men and women.

And remember, it's not true that you called Larry Summers "ditzy." That was an adjective you applied to the character of his remarks. I've honestly never before heard or read that word used in connection with one of us males. Refreshing. But jeez, now us guys gotta deal with some of the same crap the goils do.

Seriously, all the world's major religions try to emphasize the concept of the Golden Rule. It's still around, but I'm not so sure it is gaining adherents.

Twenty years ago I acquired an Apple IIe, soon got into BASIC and was forthwith into writing programs for my German and history classes.

Ten years ago I acquired my wonderful MAC (since replaced a couple of times; they just don't make them like the ol' IIe any more). And in the last ten years I've not written a single line of code, and I've missed the experience (which can really be intense!)

I still find myself considering certain problems in terms of writing BASIC.

Neither Apple nor any of the other big names seem to be interested in helping introduce players to the heart of the big "game". This syndrome is similar to the books and manuals written by computer geeks, for computer geeks. (My geekdom lies mostly in other fields: political, philosophical.) Even the recent so-called BASIC aps (See, I can do a little computerese.) are couched in such abstruse language as to render them fairly inaccessible to most.

Now, I'm going to read this article. The topic really set me off! Maybe help is available?

Part of the homework problem is a political phenomenon: administrators (principals and superintendents) and school boards join the regional, state and or national organizations pertaining to their work, and most of these organizations are quite conservative in nature. They push hard on standardized test preparation, and if the kids don’t do very well, the teachers get pushed for more homework and homework that is unusual (quaint, like that structure of pennies?). The teachers are rarely in a position to balk, even though most of them have studied at least some of the John Dewey practices that were developed in the first quarter of the 20th century, when the U.S. public schools were still an admired wonder of the world.

While it is true that teachers haven’t really been instructed in good homework practices, it is ridiculous that so many kids are handed worksheets by the handful several times a week -- and then not to be able to read them because of poor copying, that’s worse than disgraceful, it’s downright unprofessional. Besides many of those worksheets accompanying the current textbook are downright pathetic. After the textbook authors sell their book to a publisher, then comes the time for workbooks and worksheets to be produced -- much more an afterthought (to make more money!) than an effective educational tool.

I myself did use worksheets for my history students, and they knew that they were a product of my (sometimes) erratic mind, but at least I could own up to my own mistakes or exaggerations that crept in when I was burning the midnight oil at the keyboard. My purpose in using worksheets was simple: most of the kids who read the history, government, or geography assignment were not going to understand it thoroughly, and of course the ones who didn’t read the assignment at all would know nothing. My questions, riddles, puzzles, etc. were calculated to help all students get the most out of a dense, unimaginatively written textbook, the kind that is produced in America by a system no sane soul would ever devise. Money is at the root of these atrocities, too. (Ever notice how much bigger the books are than they used to be? I suspect we buy them by the pound.)

Yep, kids are currently getting too much homework in U.S. schools. I like the idea of keeping it to ten minutes per night per grade in school. An hour-and-a-half is not too much for most 8th graders, and it really shouldn’t reach that very often if the kid uses study hall for studying, and if the parents regularly ensure some quiet time where there’s a desk or a table each evening (well, Sunday through Thursday, right?).

By the time you’re a freshman, two hours per night should not be a big deal, and even heavier loads from time to time --- assuming that this is work that can be evaluated as productive. I always found doing sports during the school year really put pressure on me time- and energy-wise, but that’s the price I had to pay. Today, I’d say that most school systems let coaches have after-school practices that are longer than 90 minutes, and I think that that is just plain wrong --- it’s just as counterproductive as giving an obscene number of math problems to do.

Of course, I do not have all the answers, but we need to address the poor thinking of school boards and their minions (the administrators, many of whom are just teriffic!). Then we’ve got to get teachers to take the high road for every assignment given to their students. And finally, if each state or region of states were to develop their own teaching materials, we could subtract much of the money-factor from the process and have excellent materials from which our sons and daughters would almost (!) feel privileged to learn.

And, having accomplished all that, the homework problem would no doubt have taken care of itself.