I was recently afforded the opportunity to grade some papers that were prepared as a part of the writing portion to pass a state's final effeciency exam for high school graduation. We, the graders, were specifically told that we were to grade on thought process only, and we were to overlook spelling, grammar, etc. That meant we were not only to overlook the horrendous mistakes of the worst, but we were not to credit the really intelligent writers who used polysyllabic words and complex sentence structures. After the second night of training I washed out. There was simply no way that I can divorce thought process from technical skill.

Political correctness is killing education in the country. I graduated from a top-flight public school, and thought I had done pretty well in my college English class, but you want to know who taught me the most about English composition? The professor I had for Old Testament history and theology. He simply would not let a misplaced comma or poorly constructed sentence pass muster. His point? Who cares how brilliant your analysis if it cannot be understood when written! An educated response is one that is both brilliant in preparation and presentation.

My grandfather only had an eighth grade education, but he never misspelled a word. If he felt he did not know the correct spelling, he grabbed an old, worn out dictionary and made sure of his work. He never wanted anyone to know he didn't finish high school. And he took great pride in his work.

I used to think that the "real world" would break the uneducated and make them return for proper learning. But, as "mentor" points out, all the uneducated are accomplishing is reduced production as properly educated supervisors must spend hours and hours reworking worthless output.

In the last years of his life, my father worked with college students in architecture who were interning with his firm. Many could not tell him the difference between a ceiling and a roof.

And we expect to send men back to the moon?

Freightdawg