> (Single data point: at the
> school in my district, a principal was forced out some years ago by parents
> who were complaining that the kids were getting too much homework.)
Good for them. American kids spend ungodly amounts of time doing mindless homework, and they still don't learn shit. It is perhaps part of their indoctrination against leisure and reflection. This is particularly true in mathematics and the sciences, where the idea appears to be that how much you learn is directly proportional to how many routine, no-think exercises you do.
-- Enrique Diaz-Alvarez Office # (607) 255 5034 Electrical Engineering Home # (607) 272 4808 112 Phillips Hall Fax # (607) 255 4565 Cornell University mailto:enrique at ee.cornell.edu Ithaca, NY 14853 http://peta.ee.cornell.edu/~enrique