"Perhaps not. But you will if you tackle any serious
subject-engineering, or science, or pre-med. You would, that is to say, if
your preparation were based on this." He waved a hand at the curriculum.
I felt shocked. "Why, Dad, Center is a swell school." I remembered
things they had told us in P.T.A. Auxiliary. "It's run along the latest,
most scientific lines, approved by psychologists, and-"
"-and paying excellent salaries," he interrupted, "for a staff highly
trained in modern pedagogy. Study projects emphasize practical human
problems to orient the child in democratic social living, to fit him for
the vital, meaningful tests of adult life in our complex modern culture.
Excuse me, son; I've talked with Mr. Hanley. Mr. Hanley is sincere-and to
achieve these noble purposes we are spending more per student than is any
other state save California and New York."
"Well . . . what's wrong with that?"
"What's a dangling participle?"
I didn't answer. He went on, "Why did Van Buren fail of re-election?
How do you extract the cube root of eighty-seven?"
Van Buren had been a president; that was all I remembered. But I could
answer the other one. "If you want a cube root, you look in a table in the
back of the book."
Dad sighed. "Kip, do you think that table was brought down from on high
by an archangel?" He shook his head sadly. "It's my fault, not yours. I
should have looked into this years ago-but I had assumed, simply because
you liked to read and were quick at figures and clever with your hands,
that you were getting an education."
"You think I'm not?"
"I know you are not. Son, Centerville High is a delightful place, well
equipped, smoothly administered, beautifully kept. Not a 'blackboard
jungle,' oh, no!-I think you kids love the place. You should. But this-"
Dad slapped the curriculum chart angrily. "Twaddle! Beetle tracking!
Occupational therapy for morons!"
I didn't know what to say. Dad sat and brooded. At last he said, "The
law declares that you must attend school until you are eighteen or have
graduated from high school."
"Yes, sir."
"The school you are in is a waste of time. The toughest course we can
pick won't stretch your mind. But it's either this school, or send you
