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Elliot Stanley

Professor Jan Rieman

English 1101x

November 20, 2009

The Hidden Agenda Fails in America

Former New York State and New York City Teacher, John Taylor Gatto, is the author of

a seemingly scathing essay that attempts to dismantle the entire system of education in the

United States. In his essay entitled Against School: How public education cripples our kids, and

why, Gatto alleges that the public school system in the United States operates with a hidden

agenda. He proposes that this agenda continues to have a very detrimental effect on our citizens

in an intended way. Gatto insists that the very principles that “mass schooling” functions under

were centered on the goal to produce mindless, drone-like citizens who are willing to overlook

the implications of their actions due to a predisposition towards total civil obedience set in place

by public primary and secondary schools in the United States. The idea that implementing such

education practices promotes civil obedience was an idea adopted from Prussian culture. It’s our

alterations to the Prussian model that have made our education system one different from that of

Prussia’s. Americans view our nation as a free nation where everyone has the opportunity to

determine their own success. In America we are free to say what we want, evident from Gatto’s

publication of this essay, so we are free to speak out against an education system that traps us.

Gatto first explains the cause and origin of his distaste in public schooling by describing a

first-hand experience in which he felt victimized by the system as a teacher in a New York state

public school. He claims “I once returned from a medical leave to discover that all evidence of
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my having been granted the leave had been purposely destroyed, that my job had been

terminated, and that I no longer possessed even a teaching license”(34). This represents the

turning point in Mr. Gatto’s focus on the problem he believe has fundamentally existed in

modern public education. Originally he felt that the problem was the result of a good idea going

bad. That is, that the public school system in the United State was designed upon a

fundamentally sound premise. After his predicament he vowed to do research in the

“provenance” of the modern public school system in the United States.

Gatto’s research found that the concept of compulsory education in the United States was

modeled after the Prussian foundation of certain pedagogical ideas in the 17th century. Prussian

culture modeled that a tax-funded education system was an effective way of controlling society

and therefore ensuring domestic harmony and economic success of nations. The same value that

is placed upon obedience in both Prussian and United States school systems is actually meant as

a ploy to control citizens and shape society into a “manageable populous”(37).

Gatto proposes that it is universally agreed that the United States’ public school system

was founded with three very noble purposes. Gatto states these verbatim, “1) To make good

people. 2) To make good citizens. 3) To make each person his or her personal best”(35). Gatto

continues to say that these three ideals are completely false and meant to give alternate purpose

to students and teachers alike. These first three purposes for education are not completely false

but they are disguised in such a way to appeal to mainstream America. Gatto chooses to describe

his recount of the three disguised purposes for mass schooling as “roughly speaking”. This

description of the three purposes as rough is essential in analyzing what Gatto believes are the

true reasons for mass schooling. In short, Gatto proposes mass schooling is actually intended to

“dumb-down” our kids, “ to establish fixed habits of reaction to authority”, to make students in

each class similar to each other and to divided our society into a working class and an elite
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managerial class (35). Both of these sets of rules are the same, both are correct, and both are

intended. The only difference remains who they are said by and who they are said to. Take the

first set of rules for instance; these are likely said to the same obedient citizens. They are

ambiguous. To a supreme ruler, making good people and good citizens are the same thing. Those

in authoritarian positions would consider both “good people” and “good citizens” as being solely

obedient and cooperative. Rulers who intend to have supreme power value citizens who do not

question authority, are productive and follow the rules. When the first set of rules are read by a

mother, possibly a product of the same institutions, she is appeased by the phrase “to make good

people”, because to her the word “good” essentially means moral. The same mother is also

pleased by the phrase “to make good citizens” because patriotism is valued highly in society. The

way Gatto proposes the hidden alternative set of purposes seems like the way one insider tells

another insider a very important secret.

My first time reading John Taylor Gatto’s left me with a bit of an uneasy feeling. A

feeling much like I got from reading George Orwell’s 1984. It is a shocking thought to propose

that students like me are fashioned to function as a mindless collective, without purpose and

without regard to personal belief. It reminds me of stories written by unknown authors, enemies

of the state during World War II and traded on underground markets. Essays like this do not have

to be traded secretively in the United States. This type of critical thinking is valued by most and

critical essays are allowed by our government. Gatto’s essay is by nature a scathing article by an

insider who attempts to blast the institutions for which he has worked, all with deliberate

research and insider knowledge. If his point is that the public education system in America is

only able to produce mindless and obedient students, then what exactly caused Gatto to be an

exception to the rule?

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Gatto is an exception because he is an educator with experience facing all the flaws of the

American public education system. Gatto’s epiphany and understanding of a hidden agenda in

American schools occurred when he was fully matured as an adult, with much experience as an

educator, and when the obedience factor had been instilled in him at a young age. His experience

has left him with separatist ideals about where the education system fails its’ students. As an

educator in public schools who attended public primary schools, he was never intentionally

fashioned to think outside of the box by his own definition of the purposes of American public

education. His innovative thinking and separatist way of thinking were caused by his enriched

higher education in private institutions as well as his vast experience dealing with flaws in the

education system as an educator. This all acts as proof that Americans are not trapped

indefinitely by the quality of education they receive in their early education, but they are trapped

by a different set of rules completely.

I am a member of a very privileged group in society. I have had the opportunity to pursue

a higher education here at UNC Charlotte. With this privilege, I deviate from the collective that

Gatto wishes to address in his essay. Those who are not able to pursue a higher education are

essentially trapped and hindered by the quality of education they received in the public

institutions they attended. The fact that a college education is only made available to a select

group of individuals who possess enough capital to acquire this education is a huge factor that

traps Americans into a dull, servile and obedient lifestyle. The fact that the quality education

correlates directly with the amount of capital possessed is the biggest problem that faces our

society. The government provides our nation with a basic curriculum to ensure a civil society,

but requires capital as a stimulus to promote any other type growth in the intellect of its citizens.

This is the biggest problem with the education system in the United States; the fact that the

education system in our society is dictated by capitalism.

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Gatto’s work is an effective essay that inspires me to speak out against a system of

government that potentially traps its citizens. Freedom, most importantly free speech, in the

United States is a factor that makes America different from Prussia. Our sense that we have

freedom is more important than the actual laws that maintain our freedom. The freedom for any

teacher to decide the motivation for their teaching practices makes the origin of our education

system a less and less important factor. The major obstacle for public schools in America to

overcome is the immense emphasis placed on the correlation between a quality education and

huge amounts of capital, mainly money. Great American authors like Mark Twain have noted the

divide between schooling and education with famous quotes, “I have never let my schooling

interfere with my education.” This shows that innovating thinking is valued above obedience in

America. We must always be aware that there is a discrepancy between the concepts of

education and schooling. Education is everything we learn as humans between our conception

and death. Yes I do wish to believe that humans are able to store information starting at

conception, however infinitesimally minute. Eventually with a thirst for higher education, our

schooling becomes a minimal part of how think about ourselves and the world we move through.

Works Cited

Gatto, John. “Against School: How public education cripples our kids, and why.” Harper’s
Magazine Sep. 2001:33-38. Print.
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