Yes, but can you think?


It would appear so.


I should add a disclaimer here. I am a product of very mediocre public schools, but they were demographically homogenous and small by today's standards, and any kid in need of a mentor could find one among the teachers. I was both bright and conventional. While junior high and high school were socially very painful times for me, I thrived on academic acheivement and recognition, and that provided a layer of social protection from and with my peers. My son attended public elementary school, but has attended a very small private Quaker school since then, due to the generosity of a paternal grandparent. He is a very bright adolescent with what would be termed learning disabilities in the public system, and the public system would not be able to accomodate the difference in the ways he best learns and thinks.    The school that he attends is truly able to focus on strengths and also focus on social and emotional development, and he is thriving in that environment.   Most importantly to me, he is learning how to be thoughtful and responsible, and to use his brain.

In public school, he would be toast.