Sent to USA Today, August 16, 2011

As is the case every year, this year's Phi Delta Kappan poll found that parents rate their local schools much more positively than they do schools in the US in general. ("Poll: Parents give thumbs up to local schools," August 16).In an article published in the Phi Delta Kappan journal in 2010, the late Gerald Bracey had a good explanation for this phenomenon: It is because "Americans never hear anything positive about the nation's schools." Bracey noted that "negative information flows almost daily from media, politicians, and ideologues."

In contrast, parents get information about their child's school from direct experience, a more reliable source.

The title of Bracey's article: "Experience outweighs rhetoric."

Indeed.

Stephen Krashen

Original article: http://usat.ly/oZjbtv

Please see also, "The bad schools syndrome," S. Krashen & J. Ohler, http://www.substancenews.net/articles.php?page=1635