JONATHAN TURLEY

In the wake of the announcement of the controversial College of the American Soldier (where recruits will get college credits for simply learning tasks in military service), Chicago has opened the country’s first public high school run by the U.S. Marines. Chicago officials announced plans to open an Air Force academy high school in 2009 with plans for a Navy school. For the prior entry on the college of the american soldier, click here It is an astonishing surrender of academic values and controls by public educators to the military, which clearly views the schools as recruiting opportunities. While we constantly hear how stretched our services have become with the war in Iraq, they appear to have plenty of time to branch out into high school education. For the full story, click here Chicago has long abandoned traditional values in education by opting for specialized charter schools based on race and gender in a balkanized system of education. In doing so, they have lost the crowning purpose of the American educational experiment: to create a common experience for all citizens and to raise children in a pluralistic environment. For a prior column, click here