I write this farewell book about American early schooling not just as an educator concerned about the quality of our children's education, but as an American concerned about our survival as a high-achieving, fair, and literate society. Over my long life, I have always been a booster of the United States, ever grateful for the blessings of liberty secured to us by our Constitution. No nation is without failure or shame, but I believe ours to be the best nation on earth - and not just for its spacious skies and amber waves of grain, although these do add to the sense of greatness and possibility. Along with our Constitution, it has been the schoolmistresses and schoolmasters of our past - starting with Noah Webster - who have kept us thriving and unified.
- From How to Educate a Citizen: The Power of Shared Knowledge to Unify a Nation by E. D. Hirsch, Jr.
[Photo by Nicola Tolin at Unsplash]
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