Let's Fix Education / by Bruce Deitrick Price

Episode 196: Education reformers agree: Sight-words are a con (Wed, April 2, 2025) Please note, this short piece runs a few seconds over 5 minutes, that's all. And then you will understand the Reading Wars, and all the nonsense of the last 100 years. Please cut through all the nonsense you have heard and will continue to hear, by knowing what's actually happening.... only five minutes Let's Fix Education explains to Americans why their schools are so bad. The people in charge prefer mediocrity because they are socialists of one kind or another. If people work together to promote real education, we'll have it. Support the show

Bottom line: There was always a strong stain of subversion in our country since 1921 when the Comintern announced its intentions. This article will explain to you once and for all time why sight-words are useless and destructive. ------------------------------------------ Note the small graphic with this article. It shows how most English words are very similar to many other English words. For example, light, might, bright, tight, weight, trite, blight, light. You as a real reader can sound out the differences. But your seven-year-olds going to first grade will not have that edge or that understanding. They will soon be lost unless they are taught the letters and the sounds. Let's Fix Education explains to Americans why their schools are so bad. The people in charge prefer mediocrity because they are socialists of one kind or another. If people work together to promote real education, we'll have it. Support the show

Wait. Can A Mere Boy Save The World?? (Wed, March 26, 2025) My new novel is titled The Boy Who Saves The World. Thoughtful people want to know, could such a thing actually happen??? Many experts speculate that robotics and AI can end up anywhere you can imagine.... as in this thriller. --------------------------------------------------------------- Listen to PODCAST or read TRANSCRIPT. ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- Word-Wise Education 757-455-5020 Bruce Deitrick Price ******** LITERARY NEWS ******** "The Boy Who Saves The World" (ebook and paper) A Smart, Emotional Thriller ----------------------------------------------- Available in e-book for $7.77 and in paperback for $19.99 Author’s website is lit4u.com (which presents nine novels and two nonfiction books about K-12 education). --------------------------------------------------------------------- Let's Fix Education explains to Americans why their schools are so bad. The people in charge prefer mediocrity because they are socialists of one kind or another. If people work together to promote real education, we'll have it. Support the show

Episode 194: The 800-pound Guerrilla in the Classroom?? Wed, March 19, 2025 The Comintern was all about winning. An idea could be really quite nasty and barbarous. But if it would win, they did it. Promises changed. Lenin promised: “Land, bread, peace.” The peasants got none of that. Did you notice the casual way Kamala went from hating fracking to “Sure, I like fracking.” -------------------------------------------------------------------- “I Led Three Lives” -- Give this episode 10 minutes and you'll understand what it is to be a spy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKxUD7ryxdE ------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------- Listen to PODCAST or read TRANSCRIPT. ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- Word-Wise Education 757-455-5020 Bruce Deitrick Price ******** LITERARY NEWS ******** "The Boy Who Saves The World" (ebook and paper) A Smart, Emotional Thriller ----------------------------------------------- Let's Fix Education explains to Americans why their schools are so bad. The people in charge prefer mediocrity because they are socialists of one kind or another. If people work together to promote real education, we'll have it. Support the show

Episode 193, Big Picture Thinking -- Wed, March 12, 2025 I want to celebrate the work of Linda Goudsmit. Her topic is understanding life in the 21st-century, the forces that are dragging it down, and how we can make it better. --------------------------------------------------------------- Listen to PODCAST or read TRANSCRIPT. ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- Word-Wise Education 757-455-5020 Bruce Deitrick Price ******** LITERARY NEWS ******** "The Boy Who Saves The World" (ebook and paper) A Smart, Emotional Thriller ------- ------- -------- ------ visit Lit4u.com (book # 7) ------------------------------------------------------ When you need a smart gift, give Saving K-12 . ------------------------------------------------------ Let's Fix Education explains to Americans why their schools are so bad. The people in charge prefer mediocrity because they are socialists of one kind or another. If people work together to promote real education, we'll have it. Support the show

GREAT DOUBLE ARTICLE: a quick look at why we must have phonics. And a quick look at the career of Sue Dickson, who invented one of the best phonics programs. All of this in five minutes. -------------------------------------------------------------- Listen to PODCAST or read TRANSCRIPT. ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- For a 2-page explanation of how everyone can help, visit Education Reform When you need a smart gift, give Saving K-12 . ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Word-Wise Education 757-455-5020 Bruce Deitrick Price --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *************LITERARY NEWS: "The Boy Who Saves The World" now available in ebook and paper A Smart Thriller For Most Readers ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Let's Fix Education explains to Americans why their schools are so bad. The people in charge prefer mediocrity because they are socialists of one kind or another. If people work together to promote real education, we'll have it. Support the show

Episode 191: How To Teach Philosophy Every Day (Wed, Feb 26, 2025) Epoque Times, a great newspaper, presents a daily feature: great quotes from great minds. So you know that, quickly and cheaply, all schools can teach philosophy all day long. Use Epoque Times or create your own feature. --------------------------------------------------------------- Listen to PODCAST or read TRANSCRIPT. ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- When you need a smart gift, give Saving K-12 . ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Word-Wise Education 757-455-5020 Bruce Deitrick Price --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *****************LITERARY NEWS: "The Boy Who Saves The World" (ebook and paper) A Smart Thriller For Most Readers ------- ------- -------- ------ visit my lit site: Lit4.com ( book # 7 ) ------------------------------------------------------ Let's Fix Education explains to Americans why their schools are so bad. The people in charge prefer mediocrity because they are socialists of one kind or another. If people work together to promote real education, we'll have it. Support the show

Episode 190: No more Department of Education?? Wonderful idea!! A silly question on the Internet: If the Department of Education is dismantled, then how are kids going to receive their education? No, the Department of Education is the repository of bad ideas and bad ambitions. Get rid of it and let more mainstream people take control of K-12. ----------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------- Listen to PODCAST or read TRANSCRIPT. ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- For a 2-page explanation of how everyone can help, visit Education Reform When you need a smart gift, give Saving K-12 . ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Word-Wise Education 757-455-5020 Bruce Deitrick Price --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *************LITERARY NEWS: "The Boy Who Saves The World" now available in ebook and paper A Smart Thriller For Most Readers ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Let's Fix Education explains to Americans why their schools are so bad. The people in charge prefer mediocrity because they are socialists of one kind or another. If people work together to promote real education, we'll have it. Support the show

Episode 189: Government Tests Confirm Decline Episode 189: Government Tests Confirm Decline -- Wed, Feb. 12, 2025 (but late) (First let me mention this is the first deadline I missed in three years; my email provider stopped doing its job for two or three days.) Main news: EducationNext.org reports that we have been mired in shrinking academic outcomes for more than a decade,. And everything.continues to get worse. “We’ve always had an achievement gap. It was getting worse prior to the pandemic. Since 2019, it has exploded and we can’t tell yet if it’s done growing.” ------------------------------------------------------ --------------------------------------------------------------- Listen to PODCAST or read TRANSCRIPT. ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- For a 2-page explanation of how everyone can help, visit Education Reform When you need a smart gift, give Saving K-12 . ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Word-Wise Education 757-455-5020 Bruce Deitrick Price --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *************LITERARY NEWS: "The Boy Who Saves The World" now available in ebook and paper A Smart Thriller For Most Readers Small graphic is the cover. ------- ------- -------- ------ visit my lit site: Lit4.com ( book # 7 ) ------------------------------------------------------ Let's Fix Education explains to Americans why their schools are so bad. The people in charge prefer mediocrity because they are socialists of one kind or another. If people work together to promote real education, we'll have it. Support the show

Many pundits have noticed that American students almost never learn a second language. This is a tragic loss. What's the reason? --------------------------------------------------------------- Listen to PODCAST or read TRANSCRIPT. ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- For a 2-page explanation of how everyone can help, visit Education Reform When you need a smart gift, give Saving K-12 . ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Word-Wise Education 757-455-5020 Bruce Deitrick Price --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- LITERARY NEWS: "The Boy Who Saves The World" now available in ebook and paper A Thriller For Intellectuals ------- ------- -------- ------ visit my lit site: Lit4.com ( book # 7 ) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- PHONICS ALPHABET -- where you start https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVeP6JISfyw ------------------------------------------------------------------- Let's Fix Education explains to Americans why their schools are so bad. The people in charge prefer mediocrity because they are socialists of one kind or another. If people work together to promote real education, we'll have it. Support the show

Let's Fix Education explains to Americans why their schools are so bad. The people in charge prefer mediocrity because they are socialists of one kind or another. If people work together to promote real education, we'll have it. Support the show

Episode 186: What Do American Kids Learn In Grade One? (Quora question) Wed, Jan 22, 2025 What Do American Kids Learn In Grade One? (Quora question) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ We need more learning starting in kindergarten. And a lot less blah-blah-blah. The essence of the problem, the essence of the solution, all in 5-minute podcast. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ mentioned in podcast: 50 YOUTUBE VIDEOS EXPLAIN WHY K-12 IS SUCH A MESS. --------------------------------------------------------------- Listen to PODCAST or read TRANSCRIPT. ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- For a 2-page explanation of how everyone can help, visit Education Reform When you need a smart gift, give Saving K-12 . ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Word-Wise Education 757-455-5020 Bruce Deitrick Price ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bio: Bruce Deitrick Price is a novelist, artist, poet, and education reformer. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Let's Fix Education explains to Americans why their schools are so bad. The people in charge prefer mediocrity because they are socialists of one kind or another. If people work together to promote real education, we'll have it. Support the show

Episode 185: Bullying! Cheating! Phones in class! Everybody complains. Nobody has answers. (Wed., Jan. 15, 2025) The Education Establishment likes to whine. You may think they are expressing a love of improvement. No, they are reinforcing an endless capacity for decline. All the big shots whine, and the public lets them get away with murder, so to speak. --------------------------------------------------------------- Listen to PODCAST or read TRANSCRIPT. ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- For a 2-page explanation of how everyone can help, visit Education Reform When you need a smart gift, give Saving K-12 . ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Word-Wise Education 757-455-5020 Bruce Deitrick Price ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bio: Bruce Deitrick Price is a novelist, artist, poet, and education reformer. >>>Don't hesitate to read episodes at random. Everything on this podcast is up to date because educrats cleverly stifle improvement. That's the tragedy we need to fix. Subscribe / Support the show Let's Fix Education explains to Americans why their schools are so bad. The people in charge prefer mediocrity because they are socialists of one kind or another. If people work together to promote real education, we'll have it. Support the show

Episode 184: Why American Public Schools Can’t Teach Children To Read? The Secret Story (Wed, Jan 8, 2025) It was a deal signed in blood, or if not in blood, then in IQ points. Keeping Sight-Words in play was a dirty trick on all the average students who were reduced a notch or three. Frank Smith produced the sophistry required to keep nonsense in play. There is a double penalty because learning to read with phonics actually raises intelligence, according to many researchers. -------------------- video: READING IS EASY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JV0tPGn-Ws --------------------------------------------------------------- Let's Fix Education explains to Americans why their schools are so bad. The people in charge prefer mediocrity because they are socialists of one kind or another. If people work together to promote real education, we'll have it. Support the show

Episode 183: Celebrate the New Year with my Most Popular Podcast Wed., Jan. 1, 2025 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Let's Fix Education has been going strong for more than three years, and during all that time one episode was far and away the crowd favorite by a factor of 100. Episode 86: Super Bowl LVII, the National Anthem, Chris Stapleton: RESPECT offered some of the most popular things in American culture, the Super Bowl, a famous country star singing the Star-Spangled Banner at halftime, and a general hurrah for patriotism. [https://www.buzzsprout.com/admin/1792553/episodes/12293947-episode-86-super-bowl-lvii-the-national-anthem-chris-stapleton-respect-wed-feb-22-2023] The episode also had three outstanding links. There's a link to Stapleton’s performance, which is outstanding. There's a second link to a guy who is obviously a music director and he mentions technical details that I thought many people would appreciate. The third link tells the great story about the War of 1812 and the creation of our national anthem, narrated by Ronald Reagan. So you have a great array of valuable information with the secret message, hey, if our schools were doing a good job, you would already know all this stuff, but my bet is that most people do not. I got so many views because people passed the link around, which is essential for a niche site like this. Let's Fix Education is for people who care about the schools and understand some of the battles raging since the 1950s: the reading wars, the math wars, the cultural literacy wars, and the pervasive loss of substance and seriousness throughout K-12. The extraordinary thing is that the schools have been kept stagnant. Nothing improves. All the articles and podcasts I've written in the last 35 years would be just as fresh today. So don't hesitate to scan the titles and then dip in anywhere that sounds interesting. I especially hope you pass the podcast to parents with young children. They need to understand what's being done in the schools. If anyone wants to publish or quote anything I've written, be my guest. ———————————————————————-------------------------------- Meanwhile, Trump has promised to abolish the Department of Education, which sounds like a fine idea to me. This will open things up so that mainstream people in each state can start taking back the schools from extremists. ————————————————————————----------------------------- Meanwhile, I've been adding to my literary site, Lit4u.com, which now features eight novels in several popular genre and a unique long poem titled Theoryland. More titles in 2025. (www.Lit4u.com) —————————————————————————-—---------------------— Meanwhile, if you want to support my campaign for better schools, that's easy to do at SUPPORT EDUCATION REFORM. http://spot.fund/SupportEducationReform ————————————————————————----------------------———- MERRY EVERYTHING -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ======================================== Listen to PODCAST or read TRANSCRIPT. ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- For a 2-page explanation of how everyone can help, visit Education Reform Let's Fix Education explains to Americans why their schools are so bad. The people in charge prefer mediocrity because they are socialists of one kind or another. If people work together to promote real education, we'll have it. Support the show

Episode 182: How To Teach More (Wed, Dec 25, 2024 For our Education Establishment an exciting new wrinkle would be 20 ways to practice collaboration. Their gift must be called what it is, sleep-inducing. With just a bit of creativity and exploiting the information available to anyone, you can make memorable classroom instruction. Magicians these days are coming up with new ways to entertain an audience. Copy that. (For inspiration, reflect on Shin Lim https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTJbWylt4-A ) (Acknowledging typo: “...students have all the answers hidden away…" should be “....teachers have all the answers hidden away.”) ======================================== Listen to PODCAST or read TRANSCRIPT. ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- For a 2-page explanation of how everyone can help, visit Education Reform When you need a smart gift, give Saving K-12 . ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Word-Wise Education 757-455-5020 Bruce Deitrick Price ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bio: Bruce Deitrick Price is a novelist, artist, poet, and education reformer. >>>Don't hesitate to read episodes at random. Everything on this podcast is up to date because educrats cleverly stifle improvement. That's the tragedy we need to fix. Subscribe / Support the show Lowest sub is $3/mo, set by Buzzsprout, I don't know why. Consider featuring Let's Fix Education in your podcast, blog, or site. Let's Fix Education explains to Americans why their schools are so bad. The people in charge prefer mediocrity because they are socialists of one kind or another. If people work together to promote real education, we'll have it. Support the show

Episode 181: My Italy Speech Revisited (Wed, Dec. 18, 2024) ————————------------------------------------------------------------— Italian is said to be the most beautiful language, the most phonetic language. Unfortunately, their Education Establishment was like ours and wanted to replace beauty with sight-words. A reform group invited me over to give a speech. It's a quick summary of what the Reading Wars were about. I say the whole thing is a con. You have to give it to these meddlers, they know how to take down a country. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The contents page from Saving K-12 shows clearly the kind of themes that I enjoy analyzing: INTRODUCTION 1. CULTURE WARS Somebody does not like our culture 2. READING WARS Why we have 50,000,000 functional illiterates 3. MATH WARS Students reach college not knowing what 7 x 8 is 4. HISTORICALLY SPEAKING 100 years of dumbing down 5. THEORIES AND METHODS IN THE CLASSROOM Every fad turns out to be a foolish idea 6. COMMON CORE ENSHRINES THE WORST That's how you know they aren't sincere 7. LITERARY FLIGHTS Who says serious has to be boring 8. GUILTY Are they merely clumsy or carefully aiming for mediocrity 9. MOVERS AND SHAKERS We need our big shots to move and shake more than they do 10. WHAT TO DO Suggestions for repairing the damage ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Listen to PODCAST or read TRANSCRIPT. ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- For a 2-page explanation of how everyone can help, visit Education Reform When you need a smart gift, give Saving K-12 . ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Word-Wise Education 757-455-5020 Bruce Deitrick Price ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bio: Bruce Deitrick Price is a novelist, artist, poet, and education reformer. >>>Don't hesitate to read episodes at random. Everything on this podcast is up to date because educrats cleverly stifle improvement. That's the tragedy we need to fix. Subscribe / Support the show Lowest sub is $3/mo, set by Buzzsprout, I don't know why. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- W H A T T O E X P E C T Let's Fix Education explains to Americans why their schools are so bad. The people in charge prefer mediocrity because they are socialists of one kind or another. If people work together to promote real education, we'll have it. Support the show

Episode 180: The Unrelenting Attack On Reading (Wed., Dec. 11, 2024) Starting in kindergarten, children need to read, and they need to learn basic information. Our public schools are designed to stymie BOTH goals. People with children in school have got to pay more attention. The child’s cognitive and intellectual life might be stunted. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Listen to PODCAST or read TRANSCRIPT. ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- For a 2-page explanation of how everyone can help, visit Education Reform When you need a smart gift, give Saving K-12 . ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Word-Wise Education 757-455-5020 Bruce Deitrick Price ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bio: Bruce Deitrick Price is a novelist, artist, poet, and education reformer. >>>Don't hesitate to read episodes at random. Everything on this podcast is up to date because educrats cleverly stifle improvement. That's the tragedy we need to fix. Subscribe / Support the show Lowest sub is $3/mo, set by Buzzsprout, I don't know why. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Let's Fix Education explains to Americans why their schools are so bad. The people in charge prefer mediocrity because they are socialists of one kind or another. If people work together to promote real education, we'll have it. Support the show

Episode 179: Religion versus Science: where’s that go? (Wed., Dec. 4, 2024) Science or Religion, which do you prefer? Another question is, which do you hope is true? My main generalization about the universe is that it's insanely chaotic and mysterious. Science and Religion are two ways of grappling with the chaos and mystery. I recommend both. Historically speaking, Science and Religion trade places when it comes to supremacy. One is all-powerful and then the other takes over. Theories seem to explain everything until they are kicked out on the street. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MYSTERY OF THE SHROUD ( https://www.thearchaeologist.org/blog/new-findings-reinforce-the-authenticity-debate-of-the-turin-shroud#google_vignette ) MYSTERY OF DARK ENERGY ( https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/dark-energy-the-biggest-mystery-in-the-universe-9482130/ )) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Listen to PODCAST or read TRANSCRIPT. ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- For a 2-page explanation of how everyone can help, visit Education Reform When you need a smart gift, give Saving K-12 . ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Word-Wise Education 757-455-5020 Bruce Deitrick Price ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bio: Bruce Deitrick Price is a novelist, artist, poet, and education reformer. >>>Don't hesitate to read episodes at random. Everything on this podcast is up to date because educrats cleverly stifle improvement. That's the tragedy we need to fix. Subscribe / Support the show Lowest sub is $3/mo, set by Buzzsprout, I don't know why. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Let's Fix Education explains to Americans why their schools are so bad. The people in charge prefer mediocrity because they are socialists of one kind or another. If people work together to promote real education, we'll have it. Support the show

Big Pharma and Big Ed have a lot in common. Chicanery. Shenanigans. Blatant corruption. Lots of gullible victims. IMHO. There seem to be people at the top of both industries who lack the gene for shame. Anything they can get away with, they are all in. Time for the public to realize what the game is they're playing. On street corners it's called Three Card Monty. Many variations, one finale. The sucker always loses. Point is, people have learned to distrust Big Pharma. Now they should learn to distrust Big Ed because Big Ed definitely does not deserve your trust. ---------------------------------------------------------- Listen to PODCAST or read TRANSCRIPT. ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- For a 2-page explanation of how everyone can help, visit Education Reform When you need a smart gift, give Saving K-12 . ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Word-Wise Education 757-455-5020 Bruce Deitrick Price ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bio: Bruce Deitrick Price is a novelist, artist, poet, and education reformer. >>>Don't hesitate to read episodes at random. Everything on this podcast is up to date because educrats cleverly stifle improvement. That's the tragedy we need to fix. Subscribe / Support the show Lowest sub is $3/mo, set by Buzzsprout, I don't know why. Let's Fix Education explains to Americans why their schools are so bad. The people in charge prefer mediocrity because they are socialists of one kind or another. If people work together to promote real education, we'll have it. Support the show