The Good Old Days of the New York Public Schools

Students aren’t what they used to be. In the Good Old Days everyone learned. At least everyone learned to read. Immigrant children from Europe at the turn of the century worked hard at school and succeeded. Why can’t kids today be like them? They can’t read because they’re lazy and good for nothing. They’ve been spoiled by television, rock and roll, permissiveness, and welfare. If only we could keep them in the same grade year after year, if only we could bring back corporal punishment, then they’d shape up and learn to read. Bring back white shirts and ties, separate schools for boys and girls, the Pledge of Allegiance, and prayer in the schools. Then scholarship and intellect, or at least literacy,...