Fraters Libertas

All Hail the King

Noted economics scholar and first rank Northern Alliance blogger King Banaian is in the forefront of providing professional academic support for Governor Pawlenty’s efforts to improve the history and social studies curriculum in Minnesota high schools. Pawlenty’s initiative to establish reasonable academic standards in these fields is an important step in wresting control of the education agenda away from politically correct, revisionist history, diversity first/accomplishment last crowd.

Needless to say, it has drawn fire from the majority of professional academics and their media mouthpieces, for whom these goals are sacrosanct. King and the rest of his colleagues deserve our thanks for having the courage to stand against the education establishment and put their good names and impressive professional credentials behind the Governor’s efforts.

Here’s an excerpt from their letter of support:

In our experience, too many high school graduates lack the basic grasp of human institutions and of the physical world that ought to be presumed for college-level courses. We continually meet students who have no clue when the Renaissance was, or do not know what the word ‘monarchy’ means, or cannot tell, on a map of the world, which country is France and which is China.

I don’t personally know anyone in this age cohort, but this sobering description of their retarded educational development confirms the worst suspicions I get from my observations of them on the streets and in the media. It’s hard to say if this generation can be turned around, but you have to start somewhere. And the common sense advice offered by these academics sounds good to me:

Instead of showing how things are more complicated than is commonly thought, we first have to explain what is commonly thought.

Amen - and keep up the good fight King. After all, it’s for the children.