when the subject of education comes up in a crowd, because it means so much to me and because so much of it is done so wrong. I agree with a lot of teachers' postings here--and I love whoever mentioned Kozol and Kohn--but count me among those who want a COMPLETE OVERHAUL of the system. I'm talking about

-class sizes of something like 10

-REAL learning, as in critical thinking and evaluation of a few subjects rather than the broad and shallow approach we currently use (and is reinforced because of those tests). REAL, actual, legitimate, authentic learning, as in "Wow, look, our textbook is showing us the food pyramid, but I just heard on NPR's Science Friday yesterday that the government has completely changed its food recommendations to the public. In fact, they're looking for a new graphic to accompany their recommendations. Let's go to the computer and find the government's website, and maybe we can see what's been changed. Maybe we can come up with some design that would capture their new formulation. By the way, kids, let's check the copyright date of this textbook--see, things change in the real world..."

Do you know how many teachers would just teach whatever is given to them to teach, accuracy be damned? Do you know how few teachers would recognize the inconsistency to begin with? I'm not really blaming them entirely; they don't have time to go off on tangents like this, mostly b/c of those inane standards they have to fit in, but also b/c the information they're supposed to teach, even if outdated, is itself on the test.

-a radical change in teacher-student relations (cooperative rather than adversarial) and student-student relations (cooperative rather than competitive)

-a focus on INDEPENDENT THINKING. At my house, we go to the original source as often as we can. There's no reason teachers and schools can't make that a regular practice. Current events should be brought into every classroom, at every age. (Can't now, that's not on tests. Also, too controversial). If kids are hearing at home, on radio, or on TV about Achmadinijad-- whether or not he should have been invited to speak at Columbia, how he was treated--go online and play the actual footage of his speech for them. Let them decide for themselves. Respect their opinions. When you discuss separation of church and state, and high school kids begin mimicking their (usually Republican) parents about how the founding fathers felt about religion, don't just give them a speech--get out the Madison papers. If you're not familiar, look them up together. Let students see that you, too, are exploring for truth. Go to THE ORIGIN OF THE SPECIES for Darwin. Encourage them to watch CSPAN instead of talking cable heads. For little kids, teach them to be skeptical (not cynical), to ask questions (not keep their mouths closed, rewarding the "quiet table"), look for connections and find their own truths.

-a focus on SUBSTANCE over FORM. In my district, the self-contained gifted classrooms are the loudest--there's always a din in there, b/c they often are organized more like a lab atmosphere, and there's real discovery going on. If a teacher's main focus is CONTROL, something you will never ever successfully achieve over human beings, then everybody will be disappointed. Certainly some semblance of order is necessary to serve the greater good of a better learning environment, but the facile management of people should never be an end in itself.

-Finally, BETTER teachers. If you're a teacher and reading this and you're a good one, then you should not be offended. You also know what I'm talking about. Schools of education consistently accept the lowest-performing high school seniors compared to every other discipline (engineering, arts and sciences, business, music, etc.). That's a fact (2006 stats). If you're like me, you think economics plays a role. Although teachers' salaries are getting better, they should be competitive with law and engineering and medicine if we want the cream of the crop to go into the field. Valedictorians rarely go into teaching. The results are evident. Every day of the week I am with teachers, and I am shocked by the shallow conversations of the younger, newer ones. American Idol, clothes, etc. When I was their age and in teachers' workrooms, we talked about politics and business and current events and books.

I'm not someone who thinks we should run schools like a business. I just think, as Keillor does, that our kids deserve better. NCLB is not the solution, but it certainly is nothing close to the root of the problem, either.

For those who will tell me I live in an ideal world and never have to deal with the hard reality of misbehaving kids, I truly hear you. I work in Cleveland's inner city, and every single day I come home knowing I have let several kids down--and I mean very specific kids in very specific ways. The whole system needs to change.

Mr. Keillor--What a powerful voice you could add to a national conversation on reforming education in America. You can start with your platform of "above average" kids and say you want them all to have the opportunities that Lake Woebegon's kids have (or something like that). Unlike others who have wanted to criticize you here, I appreciate your interest. Please read everything written by Alfie Kohn for starters (and Jonathan Kozol and John Holt and Howard Gardner and David Guterson, whose book on homeschooling has much to offer schools) and visit classrooms in Minnesota and see what I'm talking about. If we can afford $100 million on an immoral, misguided war, we can create a better future generation of thinkers.