Big Words

In an entertaining Wall Street Journal piece Daniel Henninger takes on the education establishment. My favorite paragraph:

Curriculum, what students actually learn, is another chipped brick in the institutional edifice of our schools. We now have "The Language Police," education historian Diane Ravitch's meticulous but horrifying narrative of how the major textbook publishers, the testing companies and state education departments have reduced what public-school kids learn to politically correct, politically laughable pabulum and swill. Ms. Ravitch's new book is must reading for anyone who wants to learn why (my conclusion, not hers) so many kids would rather listen to hip-hop songs on their headphones than read what's now in their textbooks. Answer: The rappers use bigger words.