Pete Hegseth

Although I agree with portions of this book, I found it a bit rambling and not as systematic as I would prefer when reading. There is much that I admire about Classical Education, but I wouldn't view it as a one-size-fits-all panacea for our current educational ills. I certainly don't agree with his suggestion at the end of the book to push for federal funding of alternative educational systems; not without a lot of caveats and qualifications at least. In general, federal money always comes with federal control eventually. Neither do I concur with replicating the educational pipeline and accreditation system now in existence.

Overall, I had the sense of the author grasping at a new shiny object he recently found out about - in this case - his Classical Christian Education - as the ultimate salve - for what he views as the defects in the public educational system. In contrast, I do agree with the larger points made about how world-view and, especially, how we view human nature, radically determines how we view education and the end goal of education.

At the end of the day I prefer letting parents decide what is best for their children; and that children - even within a family - are different and may have different needs and be in need of different educational methods. Classical Education should be considered, but not as a one-size-fits-all as a replacement whole cloth for the public education system.… (mehr)