Dear Editor,
Jeffry Fisher's article on public education is quite an eye opener, but I think that it misses a problem that is as important or more important than the Socialism problem.
I have taught at a major state university (which was originally the state teachers college) and found that many of the students were totally unprepared for the college classes that they had signed up for. I believe that this is the result of grade inflation in high school. The idea that building a student's self esteem is the primary function of public education is very damaging to our educational system.
The primary functions should be to teach students the knowledge that they will need for whatever comes next in their lives, and sort them for what comes next. It is a great disservice to both the student any his employer to send him out to apply for a job that he is not qualified for.
Dr E. Allen Blair