In this segment from the McCuistion Program,  Charles Murray, author of The Bell Curve, Losing Ground and the recently released, Real Education, explains and expounds on four controversial truths as they relate to the educational system.

Real Education has a simple premise: the way that we are educating our children is based on educational  myths and disregards four distinct truths.  The lack of concern for these four truths is detrimental to the futures of our children.

Truth #1 – Ability varies. Mr. Murray talks about the “No Child Left Behind” campaign and   fallacies of thought.  Schools draw on verbal, linguistic, visual, spacial and mathematical skills. However, there are many more skills that aren’t covered in school that should not be disregarded.

Truth #2 – Half of all children are below average. This statement refers to the skills that are taught and graded in school.  He goes on to discuss the segregation that goes on from school to school and how that plays into this truth.

Truth #3 – Too many people are going to college. In Murray’s research he concluded that only 10-15% of kids have the ability to actually graduate from college courses, if they were in fact doing college-level work. However, 28% of Americans have bachelor degrees.  He then expounds on the educationally elite and the effect that that has had on society.

Truth #4 – The future of America depends on how we educate the academically gifted.Mr. Murray believes it is our bright kids who will  be leading the country, and they need to be trained better in those areas they are not currently trained in. According to Murray one of these areas is virtue. He goes on to explain the misunderstanding of true virtue among the rising generations.

He believes, “real education” is needed in order to eliminate the education myths that are being taught in our schools today.

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10.12.08 – 1721

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Philip K. Howard joins Dennis McCuistion to discuss the flaws of the legal system today.  Philip K. Howard is the Founder and Chair of Common Good, a nonpartisan national coalition dedicated to restoring common sense to America.  He is the author of Collapse of Common Good: How America’s Lawsuit Culture Undermines Our Freedom and Death of Common Sense: How Law Is Suffocating America.

Philip K. Howard, whose purpose is to simplify government, wrote the forward to Al Gore’s Common Sense Government. He has worked with OSHA on safety regulations and assuring that safety plans and regulations for companies make sense and real people can abide by them. He states that people don’t act sensibly. From teachers to doctors, he discusses the need to change the rules so teachers can teach and doctors can doctor, without the restrictions that impose higher costs and inflationary standards.  He continues on and addresses how schools are drowning in law, demonstrating his point via a three foot long flow chart, what a school must go through to suspend a student. All in all, a simple process that took minutes now takes several months. Host Dennis McCuistion comments, “When I was a kid if I didn’t listen to the teacher, I got paddled in school and doubly at home.”

Not today, cautions Philip Howard: “We thought that to correct real abuses we would guarantee fairness. Kids today are trained that they have rights… 78% of teachers have been threatened with lawsuits. It’s a reflection of the corrosion of authority.”

He claims that there is something seriously wrong with our legal system: “Politics trump common sense and partisanship.”

Philip K. Howard, a practicing lawyer himself, lays a practical game plan to restore our country to sense and individual responsibility, the premise of our Constitution.

As always, thank you for watching as we talk about things that matter… with people who care.

Niki Nicastro McCuistion
Executive Producer/Producer

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1820 – 04.25.10

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During this six-part series, Dennis McCuistion revisits past programs on specific issues from the last 20 years.  In part one of this series, Dennis McCuistion discusses the American education system through an episode entitled Education and Our Children.  This program features:

• Terry Flowers, PhD: Headmaster at St. Philip’s School
• Tom Luce: CEO of National Math and Science Initiative

During the program on the American education system, Terry Flowers is joined by students from St. Philips School who recite the St. Philip’s Creed, a creed that made national news. Tom Luce talks about what is necessary for the US to remain competitive today in education.

The McCuistion TV Program (co- founded 20 years ago by host, Dennis McCuistion, and Executive Producer/Producer, Niki Nicastro  McCuistion)  focuses on issues that impact our daily lives, economically, politically and socially.  Niki believes that “the power of television when combined with an understanding of important issues can make significant, positive differences in the lives of people who watch.” The team brings that mission to every program they have produced.

Dennis and Niki both firmly believe educating our children is a critical issue, stating:

“Educating our youth is the single biggest challenge we face in a knowledge based society with global competition. We believe it’s not about more money; it’s about better parenting, more discipline, innovation or market-based education vs. government run education, and great leadership. It’s vital we put more emphasis on the basics; phonics, and repetition, yet it’s also using the best of the new technology.”

The team believes “children are our future, and while we say that if we don’t provide the tools and the environment where our children can excel, then it won’t be them who have failed us, it will be us who have failed them.”

Tune in and enjoy a retrospective look on the American education system followed by a discussion of where we are today and the hope for the future.

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After Art Benjamin’s impressive display of the math skills that have given him the title of a mathemagician, we were able to speak with him backstage.  Below we have posted a clip from his backstage interview where he discusses his passion for math. He states that he believes that everyone has the potential to do well in math. He expounds on this topic by discussing why he believes some have trouble with math. He ends by explaining the usefulness of practical math and what he feels would make math education more relevant for all.  For the five minute clip, see the video below.

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