Conservative icon rips teachers' unions as schools turn into 'propaganda agencies'
Conservative icon and academic Thomas Sowell unleashed on the current state of the education system, warning it has become a massive arm of "propaganda" with little incentive to improve as...
By Fox News · Fox News
Conservative icon and academic Thomas Sowell unleashed on the current state of the education system, warning it has become a massive arm of "propaganda" with little incentive to improve as union power and friendly Democratic politics shield schools from accountability. "It’s failing to teach students how to think," the 95-year-old economist and historian said in a podcast interview published Tuesday. "It’s failing to give them a background of knowledge of history. And it’s failing to allow them to express views that are different from what is being propagandized." "These have become propaganda agencies, more so than educational institutions," he added. Sowell joined the Hoover Institution's podcast "Uncommon Knowledge with Peter Robinson" in a more than hourlong interview that notably did not focus on Sowell's economic expertise. Instead, it offered a sharp critique of the current education system, including reflecting on his own struggles as a youth in New York City schools before becoming one of the nation's most treasured conservative minds. NEA INSIDER BLOWS WHISTLE ON 'TOXIC' CULTURE AND FAR-LEFT POLITICS INSIDE TEACHERS UNION: 'IT'S A CULT' Sowell’s core argument was that the education system is insulated from the kind of consequences that force correction in other arenas, such as private businesses facing punishment for poor performance with monetary losses. "Public school education, you have the almost inexhaustible amount of money from the taxpayers," he said as to why school systems have failed students. "Private schools are becoming private more in name than in reality. They're getting billions of dollars of taxpayers' money and there's very little following of what happens. So that they can keep on doing things that are wrong for generation after generation." Basic math and reading scores among American students have been on a downward trajectory for years, with the COVID-19 pandemic and remote learning worsening the trends. Nearly half of high school s…