In John Gatto's essay “Against the Schools,” he states, from experience as a teacher, that the current education system is at fault (148). He says classrooms are often filled with boredom manufactured by repetitive work and unenthusiastic teaching. Students are not actively engaged and challenged by their work and, more often than not, they have either already covered the concepts taught in class or they simply do not understand what is being taught to them. Children contained in classrooms have come to believe that their teachers are not very knowledgeable about the subjects they teach, which reinforces their apathy toward education. Teachers also feel disadvantaged in their role as teachers, as students often adopt rude and neglectful attitudes in the classroom. Teachers often want to modify the programs offered to students in order to create a more effective lesson plan, but they are limited by strict regulations and consequences that bind them to their required lessons (148-149). An active illustration of John Gatto's view on our educational system can be found in Mike Rose's essay "I Just Wanna Be Average" (157). Throughout this book, author Mike Rose describes the type of education he received while pursuing professional education. During his professional experiences, Mike was taught by teachers who were inexperienced and poorly trained in the subjects they taught. As a result, their lesson plan and the assignments they prepared for the class were not designed to effectively teach students anything practical. For example, the curriculum in Mike Rose's English class all semester consisted of repeatedly reading ...... in the middle of an article ...... to think for yourself. He believes that students will become more active and informed citizens if they are made to think for themselves (155). Gatto's proposed solutions can be found successfully applied in Mike Rose's essay. In his essay, he describes the poor education he received during his professional studies. Mike's future looked bleak until he joined Jack MacFarland's instructions. This man was a wise and enthusiastic teacher who challenged students academically. He encouraged and inspired students to read, be proactive in their classes, and think for themselves. His classes were interesting and the students were interested in his teachings (165-167). The fact that the same solutions Gatto proposed in his essay have been successfully applied elsewhere proves that teaching practices must and can change for the better..