Welcome to PerfectlyDocile. This site is intended for families and educators who share my concerns about the current state of affairs in our public schools. As a teacher for the past 15 years, I have become increasingly frustrated with what has been passing for education "reform" in the United States, and I know many others, teachers and parents alike, are concerned as well.
There has been a fundamental shift in public education policy that has taken place over the last 20 years, and passage of the No Child Left Behind legislation in 2002 marked a critical point in its development. Control over public education has been quietly stripped from local school boards and shifted to the state and federal levels. This was not the result of any grassroots movement by parents seeking a better education for their children. It was achieved, instead, through the behind-the-scenes machinations of wealthy and influential ideologues who believe they have the right (and duty) to dictate the upbringing of our children.
Whether we continue down this road depends on whether or not those who are currently calling the shots are opposed by a united and informed public. You can't fight what you can't see. This is the purpose behind my writing; to bring parents the information they need to reclaim their right to direct the education of their children in our public schools.
"In our dreams...people yield themselves with perfect docility to our molding hands. The present education conventions fade from their minds, and unhampered by tradition we work our own goodwill upon a grateful and responsive folk."
This excerpt from the Rockefeller's General Education Board "Occasional Letter Number One" provided me with the name for this blog. I hope you recognize it as tongue-in-cheek. I don't consider myself even imperfectly docile. Domesticated perhaps, but not docile.
Scott
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