John Taylor Gatto - Weapons of Mass Instruction: A Schoolteacher’s Journey Through the Dark World of Compulsory Schooling

Advance Praise for

WEAPONSOFMASS INSTRUCTION

John Taylor Gatto has been a hero of mine for years.
He has the courage to challenge an educational system that is
obsolete and out of touch with reality. Years ago, he gave me
the courage to speak out and write my books. I trust
this book will give you the courage to speak out.

ROBERT KIYOSAKI, author, Rich Dad, Poor Dad

For over 20 years John Taylor Gatto has been working tirelessly to
teach us the truth about our educational system that compulsory
schooling does not work to foster a democratic way of life!

MARY LEUE, Founder of the Albany Free School

All of Gattos words shine. Lets have Gatto as US Secretary
of Education and then, this time, he can blow it all up!

GEORGE MEEGAN, author of The Longest Walk and
world record holder, longest unbroken march in human history

We accept Mr Gattos invitation to an open conspiracy
against forced schooling here in Europe as well. The virtues of
this book, its precise ideas, realistic proposals and sharp
conscience, class it among the best works of Thoreau,
Jefferson, Hume or Diderot. A masterly book.

The Kadmos Paris Magazine, Paris, October 2008.

In Weapons of Mass Instruction, John Taylor Gatto points
out the folly of the business of American education, especially
standardized testing. Listen up, for childrens sake!

WENDY ZEIGLER, artist and former student of John Taylor Gatto.

It happens rarely, but whenever I do read a newspaper,
listen to the radio, or watch television, on a variety of topics,
I find myself wondering, How? How can this happen? How can
people be so gullible? Gatto has an answer and it is disturbing
as well as compelling: 20th Century US education.

His argument renews gratitude to my father for having
given me the chance to dodge full immersion in the homogenizing
machine, and makes me more determined than ever to pass
this gift of becoming an individual on to my own children.

TANIA AEBI, author of Maiden Voyage; and
world record holder, first circumnavigation of the world
by a solo female sailor

I run a school. John Gatto is my conscience.
He has taught me to hate school and love learning. This book
will do that for others, and we need them!

BECKY ELDER, Northfield School of The Liberal Arts

Praise for

John Taylor Gatto

I count John Gatto among my heroes

ROBERT BLY

Ive loved John Gattos work ever since I first
encountered his astounding essays.

CHRISTIANE NORTHRUP, M.D., author of Womens
Bodies, Womens Wisdom

Gattos voice is strong and unique, a Socrates
of the educational world.

THOMAS MOORE, author of Care of the Soul

I agree with damn near every semi-colon and
comma that Mr. Gatto has written.

TOM PETERS, author of In Search of Excellence

Gatto is a singular antidote to stale convention.

DAVID GUTERSON, author of Snow Falling On Cedars

A remarkable achievement. I cant remember ever
reading such a profound analysis of modern education.

HOWARD ZINN, on The Underground
History of American Education

Educations most original thinker.

DANIEL H. PINK, author of Free Agent Nation

Brilliant Work!

LAISSEZ FAIRE BOOKS

WEAPONS
OF MASS
INSTRUCTION

A SCHOOLTEACHER'S JOURNEY
THROUGH THE DARK WORLD OF
COMPULSORY SCHOOLING

JOHN TAYLOR GATTO

Author of the best-selling Dumbing Us Down

NEW SOCIETY PUBLISHERS

CATALOGING IN PUBLICATION DATA:

A catalog record for this publication is available
from the National Library of Canada.

Copyright 2009 by John Taylor Gatto.
All rights reserved.

Cover design by Diane McIntosh.
Cover art: George Deem, detail of Art School, 1989. Oil on canvas.

Printed in Canada.

Hardback ISBN: 978-0-86571-631-5

Inquiries regarding requests to reprint all or part of Weapons of Mass Instruction
should be addressed to New Society Publishers at the address below.

To order directly from the publishers,
please call toll-free (North America) 1-800-567-6772,
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Any other inquiries can be directed by mail to:

New Society Publishers
P.O. Box 189, Gabriola Island, BC V0R 1X0, Canada
(250) 247-9737

New Society Publishers mission is to publish books that contribute in fundamental ways to building an ecologically sustainable and just society, and to do so with the least possible impact on the environment, in a manner that models this vision. We are committed to doing this not just through education, but through action. This book is one step toward ending global deforestation and climate change. It is printed on Forest Stewardship Council-certified acid-free paper that is 100% post-consumerrecycled (100% old growth forest-free), processed chlorine free, and printed with vegetable-based, low-VOC inks, with covers produced using FSC-certified stock. Additionally, New Society purchases carbon offsets based on an annual audit, operating with a carbon-neutral footprint. For further information, or to browse our full list of books and purchase securely, visit our website at: www.newsociety.com

Contents

This book is dedicated to the great and difficult art offamily building, and to its artists: mothers, fathers,daughters, sons, grandchildren, grandmothers,grandfathers, aunts, uncles, cousins, and in-laws.

I taught for thirty years in some of the worst schools inManhattan, and in some of the best, and during that time,I became an expert in boredom.

EVERYTHING YOU KNOW
ABOUT SCHOOLS IS WRONG

Forced schooling seduces the trapped into believing thatinert knowledge, memorized fact bits and sequences is thegold standard of intellectual achievement. Learning toconnect those bits into meanings for yourself is discouraged.This habit training is a major weapon of mass instruction.

Nick Schulman, a neighbor of mine, cut junior high toplay pool, and dropped out of high school to play poker.He became a millionaire at the age of 21 this year, on theWorld Poker Tour. His new goal is to study philosophynow that hes fixed for life.

Fat Stanley told me he had to cut school almost everyday because he didnt want to end up like me, workingfor someone else. He was 13 when he said that to me.An Amish man in Ohio told me they could build a rocketto the moon if they felt like it, but it was a stupid idea.

Sarnoff, the founder of RCA dropped out of elementaryschool to sell newspapers on the street. What he learnedthere he could never have learned in school.

I was the official New York State Teacher of the Year whenI quit on the op-ed page of the Wall Street Journal, becauseI couldnt stand to hurt children any more.