Historian Says 'so politically correct as to be comic'

Historian David McCullough says textbooks have become 'so politically correct as to be comic.' Meanwhile, the likes of Thomas Edison get little attention.

'We're raising young people who are, by and large, historically illiterate," said David McCullough.  He has lectured at more than 100 colleges and universities over the past 25 years, and he says, "I know how much these young people even at the most esteemed institutions of higher learning don't know." Slowly, he shakes his head in dismay. "It's shocking."

Last week, the Department of Education released the 2010 National Assessment of Educational Progress, which found that only 12% of high-school seniors have a firm grasp of our nation's history. And consider: Just 2% of those students understand the significance of Brown v. Board of Education.

McCullough began worrying about the history gap some 20 years ago, when a college sophomore approached him after an appearance at "a very good university in the Midwest." She thanked him for coming and admitted, "Until I heard your talk this morning, I never realized the original 13 colonies were all on the East Coast." he says,  "I thought, 'What have we been doing so wrong that this obviously bright young woman could get this far and not know that?'"

Many textbooks have become "so politically correct as to be comic. Very minor characters that are currently fashionable are given considerable space, whereas people of major consequence farther back" such as, say, Thomas Edison "are given very little space or none at all."

His final point: "And they're so badly written. They're boring! Historians are never required to write for people other than historians." Yet he also adds quickly, "Most of them are doing excellent work. I draw on their excellent work. I admire some of them more than anybody I know. But, by and large, they haven't learned to write very well."

Our educational system is a pathetic joke.  Teachers no longer teach the basics.  Children graduate today and have no reading, writing, or math skills.  They have no sense of America's history.  Teachers are more interested in teaching the socialist agenda that the government is the answer to everything you need and want. 

Please don't say education needs more money, the more money that has been spent on education the worse education has become.

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