The opinion column by Tom McLaughlin Feb. 13, “Schools: Everything but time,” hit the nail on the head. Schools are no longer filling the vision for them in 1840: to bring the United States and its immigrants into the industrial world with the three “Rs” and a bit of history. Nor is it serving the corporate, stay-at-home factory world for which the education system was designed.

The overblown, overworked, overused schools are not keeping up with the changing needs of society, the changing needs of individuals or the changing techniques, technology and brain research of today.

It is time we rethought why we learn, how we learn, when we learn and what we learn. It is time to create a learning system for the future.

There are many experiments going on that might provide the cells for a new body for learning: independent study programs, charter schools, unschooling, democratic schools, cyber learning, home schooling and learning co-ops are some of them.

Perhaps it is time to look seriously at some of these, and at other options to the government-controlled public schools and do more to develop the natural curiosity and love of learning that is inherent in our young people and future citizens.

Bill Ellis, Rangeley

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