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Schools Are Teaching Kids the Wrong Things — with Ted Dintersmith

The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway

Thu Apr 02 2026

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway

Episode: Schools Are Teaching Kids the Wrong Things — with Ted Dintersmith
Date: April 2, 2026
Host: Scott Galloway
Guest: Ted Dintersmith (Education advocate, author, filmmaker)

Episode Overview

In this episode, Scott Galloway interviews Ted Dintersmith, a former top-tier venture capitalist, Stanford PhD, and outspoken advocate for educational reform. The discussion focuses on the way American schools, K-12 and higher education alike, are failing to prepare students for the realities of the modern workforce. Through personal experiences and national observations, Dintersmith argues passionately for a fundamental shift in how and what students learn, specifically critiquing the focus on rote learning and standardized testing, while offering grounded suggestions for fostering creativity, purpose, and real-world skills in students.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Obsolete Model of American Education

Dintersmith's Assessment:
The system isn’t simply failing; it’s working exactly as it was designed—to produce rote workers for an industrial economy. That model is now obsolete and counterproductive.

“It actually is working really well. It’s just with an obsolete model… it was designed to equip young kids with rote skills and intentionally erode their creativity and curiosity and audacity and agency.” (07:10 – Ted Dintersmith)
Historical Context:
The factory-line and admin jobs of the 20th century matched education’s mission; today’s world rewards creativity, agency, and problem-solving—traits the current system suppresses.

2. The Testing Trap

Stagnation and Decline:
Despite decades of focus on test scores, reading and math performance has stagnated or declined, with large shares of students performing below basic levels.

“Nearly half of American high school seniors are testing at below basic levels in math and reading...12th grade reading scores today are 10 points lower than in 1992.” (09:20 – Scott Galloway)
Critique of Standardized Tests:
Dintersmith argues that a hyperfocus on testable, narrow skills crowds out meaningful learning:

“The story of American education is we teach what’s easy to test, not what’s important to learn.” (17:36 – Ted Dintersmith)
Data Misinterpretation:
Test results are regularly manipulated and misrepresented (e.g., the “Mississippi miracle”), and minor fluctuations are often exaggerated for narrative purposes.

“A 3 or 4 point swing on a scale of 0 to 500... you can make 3 points look catastrophic or miraculous.” (13:45 – Ted Dintersmith)

3. Irrelevance of Traditional Math Curriculum

Disconnect from Real World:
Dintersmith’s new book, “Aftermath,” critiques how high school math prioritizes abstract skills (e.g., polynomials, piecewise linear functions) over essential life knowledge (financial literacy, estimation, optimization).

“These math ideas like how you estimate something or what an algorithm is... they’re not graduate school topics. These are things that get young kids excited about math. And yet schools don’t get to it.” (16:27 – Ted Dintersmith)
Proposed Solution:
Rethink math to center it on concepts that foster thinking and decision-making rather than test scores and ranking.

4. Socioeconomic Disparities in Public vs. Private Schools

Resource Inequality:
Property tax-driven funding means wealthier communities offer superior resources (facilities, programming) while poorer schools lag far behind.

“The kids that need the least get the most, the kids that get the most are the ones that are least needy.” (22:07 – Ted Dintersmith)
Student Engagement:
Affluent families may “game” boring school with tutors and support, but students in disadvantaged areas are more likely to succeed when given meaningful and open-ended challenges.

“When you flip it and actually ask kids to take on open-ended challenges, amazing things happen... the well-off, micromanaged kids freeze up.” (23:00 – Ted Dintersmith)

5. Gender Gaps & School Structure

Girls Surpassing Boys:
Once opportunity is equalized, girls excel; 7 out of 10 high school valedictorians are girls, and admissions officers admit that, were it merit alone, incoming classes would be 75% female.

“We may go after race or ethnicity or something, but that gender... their [girls’] difference is enormous.” (25:45 – Ted Dintersmith)
Risks for Boys:
School structures disadvantage boys’ slower maturation and damage self-esteem early, while the rare boys who “go rogue” often succeed as entrepreneurs.
Systemic Impact:
Both genders lose out: girls’ entrepreneurial potential is stifled; boys drop out or disengage at high rates.

6. Unlocking Creativity and Agency

Need for Evolution, Not Regression:
Calls to “return to the basics” are misguided; the solution is nurturing creativity at scale.

“We need to unlock the creative animal… unlock the beast, in a positive way.” (29:12 – Scott Galloway)
Scalable Solutions:
1. Capstone Projects: Let each student finish every year with a real, personally meaningful project.
2. Career-based Learning: Follow models like public schools in Winchester, VA, where all students cycle through hands-on, job-related skills—plumbing, cybersecurity, carpentry, health care, AI, and more.
  
  “Everyone benefits… career-based learning is important for all kids to do, not just ‘those’ kids.” (33:20 – Ted Dintersmith)
3. Blending Paths: End the stigma dividing “college prep” from “vocational training”—expose all students to a variety of real skills and let them choose.
Memorable Anecdote:
MIT engineering grads on graduation day were unable to light a bulb with wire and battery—evidence of a system disconnected from practical application.

“Had those kids along the way shadowed an electrician… they’d be way better MIT engineering students.” (35:40 – Ted Dintersmith)

7. Higher Ed: Ripe for Disruption?

Stability Despite Disruption Narratives:
Predictions of higher ed’s demise have not come true, but cost/value disparities grow ever more stark.

“What was it, 20 years ago when [Clayton Christensen] predicted the demise of higher ed? And it’s rolling. Yeah, he was wrong.” (41:49 – Ted Dintersmith)
Calls for Expansion & Flexibility:
Highly selective schools should increase enrollment; colleges should add more real-world learning and expand experiential programs (like Northeastern’s co-ops).

“Wouldn’t it be great if these colleges said over the next five years we’re going to accept 10x the number of students?” (43:11 – Ted Dintersmith)
Critique of "College for All":
College can be transformative, but debt and diminished returns hurt many. Real success comes from finding the right fit, including non-college tracks.

8. Three Transformational Policies (Magic Wand Moment)

Authentic Assessment:
Base graduation and course requirements on real, creative work—not multiple choice tests.
AI Fluency:
Make AI usage a core competency—students adept at AI can succeed in any sector.

“A kid that comes out of school really good at using AI can create or pursue almost any career they want. A kid that can’t is going to be hurting.” (46:25 – Ted Dintersmith)
Invest in Teachers:
Increase teacher pay, status, and development—learn from Finland, where teaching is a prestigious, competitive field.

“We trust them with the lives of our kids, but we don’t trust them with their lesson plans.” (50:43 – Ted Dintersmith)
Teacher Shortage:
Recruitment is in crisis—overwork, underpay, and lack of respect have decimated the profession.

9. Advice for Parents: Supporting Children’s Authentic Success

Find Your Kid’s Lane:
Support rather than dictate—don’t define your child’s worth by elite college admission rankings.

“Do you care more about the decal on the back of your car or do you care more about helping your kid find their lane and supporting the heck out of them?” (54:21 – Ted Dintersmith)
Warning on Parental Pressure:
Dintersmith recounts chilling moments, such as a Palo Alto school suffering multiple suicides under the weight of expectation.

“They had five student suicides... these were normal kids... told that of course you’ve got to get into Stanford.” (60:57 – Ted Dintersmith)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On Test Scores vs. Real Learning:

“The story of American education is we teach what’s easy to test, not what’s important to learn.” (17:36 – Ted Dintersmith)
On Parental Expectations:

“Do you care more about the decal on the back of your car or do you care more about helping your kid find their lane and supporting the heck out of them?” (54:21 – Ted Dintersmith)
On Equity in School Funding:

“The kids that need the least get the most, the kids that get the most are the ones that are least needy.” (22:07 – Ted Dintersmith)
On Gender & Success Paths:

“Girls ought to be three quarters of our college student bodies. But then you look at entrepreneurship, it is heavily male dominated... most of the guys that do really well... just chucked it in school.” (25:45 – Ted Dintersmith)
On Authentic Education:

“If a kid spends 12 years of school and leaves with no sense of purpose and a hireable skill, I think we’ve sort of let them down.” (37:00 – Ted Dintersmith)

Key Timestamps

[07:10] Dintersmith on obsolete educational goals
[09:20] Galloway on declining test scores and educational outcomes
[13:45] Manipulation and misinterpretation of testing data
[16:27] Dintersmith on life-useful math and curriculum failings
[21:33] Dintersmith outlines unequal resources and funding in public schools
[24:46] Gender dynamic in K-12 schooling and real-world impacts
[29:12] The call to unlock creativity (“unlock the beast”)
[33:20] Real-world innovation centers as models for education
[41:49] Higher ed’s unexpected resilience and future disruption potential
[46:25] Dintersmith’s ‘magic wand’ education reforms: project-based learning, AI fluency, teacher investment
[54:21] Parental challenge: supporting children’s own paths
[60:57] Palo Alto suicides and the true cost of elite pressure

Conclusion

This episode is a wide-ranging, passionate critique of the American education system’s fixation on antiquated models, standardized testing, and prestige signaling. Ted Dintersmith urges a shift toward creativity, real-world engagement, purpose-driven learning, and greater equity—backed by personal insight and national observations. Both host and guest challenge prevailing assumptions, advocate for respect for all educational and career paths, and highlight the urgent need to support teachers and rethink success for both students and parents.

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Transcript

Host/Announcer (0:01)

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Scott Galloway (1:50)

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Host/Announcer (1:51)

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Co-host/Interviewer (2:11)

Episode 39039 is the country code for

Scott Galloway (2:13)

calling Italy from abroad.

Co-host/Interviewer (2:14)

In 1990, Home Alone was released in theaters. You know, there's nothing more joyous than the sound of a baby laughing. Unless, of course, it's 3:00am you're home alone and you don't have children.

Ted Dintersmith (2:30)

Go, go go.

Co-host/Interviewer (2:41)

Ted Dintersmith (10:00)

Yeah. And what's being tested and how do we interpret the decline? Right, let's talk about that. But to the first point, I feel like it worked really well from 1893 to about 60 years ago. So there was a glorious period where America's more or less soared, not for everybody, but as a nation. Those were glory years. Today you go back to, you know, a nation at risk report. 1983 sounded alarm bells about our education education system that sparked more test prep, more drills, more worksheets, no child left behind in 2002, even more drills and worksheets. You know, race to the top, take it up another level. It's been the all consuming goal of our schools. Get better math and reading scores. And as you say, they've been flat to down. And, and so why is that happening? I think it's happening because teachers are demoralized, kids are bored and we've dumbed it down so that the is take on some boring passage and train for a multiple choice. Question about signs of author bias. So you look at the data on high school kids. I mean most high school kids hate to read. It's like how are you going to get great reading scores with kids feeling like reading is about the same as cleaning the toilet or something. And then with math. And I wrote this book Aftermath to go right at the issue. Everything about the world of math has changed in the last 50 years. And I go back to, you know, in high school I was the last wave of kids using the slide rule. I go back to when people in the workplace needed to do things like factor polynomials by hand. Well now that's all subsumed by computers. And we still do that in school. We not only still do it, it's mandatory. It's multiple years of kids time in school. It's super high stakes. It largely serves to rank and sort kids and punish millions. And it's all towards skills that computers do excellently tied to math that adults just don't use. And I could rip through most of what's covered in high school. And if there are any listeners who say, oh yeah, this morning I needed to take the cube root of minus 27 or I'm going to do well today because I can sort through a piecewise linear function or yeah, the chain rule is going to make my day. It's like, wait a minute. And I think that's a, that gross mismatch between what we not only insist on in school but devote thousands of hours to versus a world that doesn't care about that anymore, but cares about all these really powerful interesting math ideas. Ideas that absolutely shape our lives. You know, the more we do that, the longer we persist, the more kids leave school, you know, with really dismal prospects and hollowed out sense of purpose.

Ted Dintersmith (12:59)

Well, one of the drivers, and there are several, I mean first they got an immediate boost because they put a gate after third grade so you couldn't go to fourth grade unless you could pass reading tests at third grade. So you sort of basically strip out the bottom 10% of test scores and then your fourth grade scores get a bo. And that happened in looking at the data, they've kind of flatlined against the standard of the test. They've increased in state rankings because many states have actually declined. And I think they're probably doing. I visited every state on a trip I took, but that was 10 years ago. I suspect two things. I suspect they figured out some things like the science of reading before other schools figured that out. But also if you make one thing, you're all in focus. If you get all sorts of pats on the back for a reading score boost for fourth graders, then that's what you're going to do. And if you just direct all in focus on those two measures, you would hope you get some improvement. And they've gotten some. But I actually think, and this sparked me to write the book, is I feel like there's a general sense of futility in the way people deal with these scores because it's a cardinal scale that comes from the national center of Education Statistics and the scale runs from 0 to 500. And so we'll see swings of like 3 or 4 points on a scale of 0 to 500. And we impute the most significant of consequence to that. And when I interviewed the people who designed those tests, it's like you realize, I think a lot of the people in these positions of authority and power are pretty math confused themselves. And I think the people who report on it don't know how to make sense of it. And then you'll see and this is something most people are familiar with. You see kind of a cheap data visualization trick. So if you have a 4 point swing on a scale of 0 to 500 show on a compressed scale of 10 range, 10 point range or 20 point range, you can make 3 points look catastrophic or miraculous if you show 3 points on a 10 point range instead of a 0 to 500 point range. So I pay attention to the scores. I feel like our testing, if we used it thoughtfully and diagnostically, would yield some information. But that's what we chase and that's how we measure the success of a school or a district or a state or even a kid. And my issue with that is look at what's happened nationally, those scores have been flat for years. It's hard to find teachers who want enter the profession. So we've made that profession a real torture chamber and kids are bored. And when you look at what we would really love, I mean, don't we want kids who come out of high school just loving to read, picking up a book like book and saying I can't put it down yet. When you ask these kids whether it's on a sample study basis or anecdotally, when I travel over the country, they say no, I don't really like reading. A lot of kids in high school don't read a book cover to cover.

Ted Dintersmith (24:46)

Well, when I went to school, there wasn't a lot of angst over when you started reading. You know, a lot of, I'm not even sure when I read. You know, it may have been second grade or third grade. There's a study that I think it was called the Pygmalion effect study that's worth noting here, which is that they did this and replicated it so it's been verified. But they would take kids at random and they go to teachers and say, you know, you've got this kid in your classroom and even though their past academic performance has been pretty ordinary, they actually have unbelievable talent and we think you're going to unleash it. And then the boom, boom. Boom. Over the course of the year, that kid just soars. Now, of course those kids were picked at random, but because there were different perceptions, different views built in in terms of the adult perspective on the kid that rippled through. You know, young boys brains deliver, develop at a slower pace, right? And we do this testing from the very earliest ages. You know, you can go to Manhattan and parents are paying for Weschler test tutors so they can get their kid in the right pre K school. You know, it's nuts, right? But, but you'll start to get this message early where the boys aren't doing as well on the drills and worksheets. They get this sort of sense of like, you know, you're not as gifted as the, the girl on the desk next to you. And that just ripples on through the system. That said, I think that nobody wins in this, right? I think girls are more responsible, they're more vigilant about their assignments. They do far better in school. All this angst about diversity and equity in colleges. If you ask a college admissions officer, if you were gender blind in your admissions, what would your entering class look like? Nobody's willing to say, but they tell me 75% female. So we may go after race or ethnicity or something, but that gender, their difference is enormous. But I'd also say that boys have different ways to react and some just peel out and they are in a world of hurt going forward, but others just say screw it, right? They go rogue and they don't take school that seriously and they sort of dodge the meat grinder of school that erases that creativity and that entrepreneurial initiative. And so you look at girls do way better in school. Girls ought to be three quarters of our college, you know, student bodies. But then you look at the world of entrepreneurship and I think that's for a lot of reasons. I don't want to oversimplify it, but it is heavily male dominated and most of the guys that do really well, and I backed a lot and you'd be a perfect example, kind of just chucked it in school. They just said like, I'm not into this, right? And I've got enough self confidence to feel like I can come through, but I don't like being told I've got to do something I don't see a point to and, and how many of them? You know, that's the irony, right? So many of the people that dropped out of school are the same ones that want more kids to, you know, to take calculus in high school. It's like, wait a minute, like you sort of went rogue. I think that actually proved to your advantage. You know, like, why don't we begin to think about what conditions led you to run with your entrepreneurial nature, how can we foster and develop that in kids? Because, you know, it's there in every kid. It's not a girl or a boy thing. You know, you hang around with five year olds, they are like bursting with curiosity and creativity and they'll do almost anything. They don't mind failing and failing and failing. It's just the more we say buckle down and do what school tells you to do, the more we drive out of kids certain characteristics and reinforce others. And as I say, that model made all sorts of sense in 1950. And I think we're in very difficult times now. And I think differentially, because of that, that latency in the development of the brains among boys and girls, there's a differential impact that does a lot of damage. I think in both cases, right, I think we're losing a lot of great female entrepreneurs because of this. And I think we're losing a lot of boys through the system that they just don't finish. And it's just like, and it's heartbreaking.

Ted Dintersmith (30:22)

You know, too. And that study was verified, and I have to say, it's a Venture guy. For years, I love to back people who had gone rogue on school. You know, I avoided, you know, like somebody said to me, Exeter, Princeton, Harvard Business School. I'd say, like, go get a job at McKinsey. You know, because again, it's not that they're not talented. It's not that they're not hardworking. They are. But going through that process and jumping through the hoops put in front of you isn't conducive to a mindset that says, I'm going to go rogue and change the world. So how do you do it? I'd say three things. One is you don't have to change. I mean, I spent 15 years hoping that schools would be very innovative, and it's proven to be difficult. But I say you don't have to change everything. But what if we said each kid coming through school by the end of their school year would create a capstone project that shows them at their best something that they viewed that would be an important problem to solve or opportunity to create where they would be learning important skills in the process, Trying it, failing, trying it, failing, trying it, failing. But by may, damn it all, they have something they could display. And the school does an entire display. And we show that in my first film, Most Likely to Succeed, where these kids are bursting with pride and the adults are coming and saying, like, wow, you did that? Like, if we did that, we'd start to at least nourish the entrepreneurial aspect of all of our kids. Some will do really well, some won't. But I think they would all benefit from that. That would be the first point. The second thing is to really rethink account, and we talked about that a few minutes ago. When we obsess about these very narrow measures of math and reading scores, and I see this over and over and over again, it pushes aside innovation. We would like our kid to do X, but that may take some hours away from drilling on irrational numbers or something. And then we have a film out. So I've been busy, but I've got the new book out, Aftermath. But I also have a film out called Multiple Choices that shows. And it's fascinating. I mean, I do these films. They're not cheap to do. But I visited this school, public school in Winchester, Virginia. I just love what they're doing. When I left there, I said, we're going to make a film about this. Because mainstream public school, brilliantly, they create something they call the Innovation Center. Career based learning across a whole range of skills from plumbing to carpentry to welding to cybersecurity to healthcare to AI to digital media. But the key and the reason I made the film is this is important for all kids to do, not those kids. And so you have this center that almost serves like a microcosm of national service. So you might be really good at 10 things, and I might be bad at all those 10 things, but maybe I'm good at one thing you're not good at. And we're side by side and suddenly we both develop some appreciation for the ways we're talented, the quite distinctive ways we're talented. And they build those skills, by the way, based on what the local economy needs. So suddenly they're developing a pipeline of kids that come into their community. Some go away to college because all kids have to do it. They're not penalized for welding instead of AP chemistry. So the college kids actually benefit. But the ones that go directly to the workforce, which in their cases, half have explored careers, developed skills, and they're off to a running start. And I think we've sort of convinced ourselves and it's been a colossal mistake, that there's either the college academic path or the career workforce path. Not only are they different, but one is way better than the other. You know, and you look at the college signing days and the pennants and the, you know, I mean, I was a big supporter of no Barack and Michelle Obama. Well, but I used to just almost break my heart when it would be college signing day. You know, you two can do it. Every kid, you know, and a lot of kids just, they're not academically inclined or they find their passion in different ways. And it's like if we respected all these paths and if kids, I give this, I use this video on my talks, we didn't do it. And the video production quality is terrible. But a guy named Woody Flowers, I don't know if you met Woody, but he co founded First Robotics with Dean Kamen and He taught at MIT for 45 years and became convinced, I have to say this slowly because people don't believe me. Woody became convinced that MIT graduates had learned very little science and engineering. And to make his point, graduation day caps and gowns, world's most prestigious engineering institution in the world. We're proud graduates. They go up to all these grads and they hand them a light bulb, wire and battery and say, can you light up the light bulb? And these kids are like, of course. Like, wait a minute, why are you bothering me with something so pedestrian on this big day? And then they can't light up the light bulb. And the point I make is had those kids along the way shadow an electrician or done a summer internship with an electrician, they'd be way better. MIT engineering students and other kids might go on to be electricians that do incredibly important work to hold their community together. And everybody else would at least know when the power goes out at their house. Here's what we do about it, right? And so that, that sense of career over there, get on a bus, you're stigmatized. This is a consolation prize. College. Yes. Bingo. You did it. I think that's been very destructive to the way our nation moves ahead. And I think quite frankly, incredibly destructive to the Democratic party because that Democratic party has been for years. Of course you need a college degree to be a first class citizen. And of course if it doesn't work out, taxpayers should cover the cost. And I'm not against college. I'm just in favor of exposing kids during those precious free years of high school to gain experience across a range of career areas, to understand what it means to learn things that are tied to real world impact and to make better choices as 18 year olds.

Host/Announcer (38:51)

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Ted Dintersmith (41:49)

Well, you know, you go back to. And I have a high opinion of Clayton Christensen, but What was it 20 years ago when he predicted the demise of higher ed? And it's rolling. Yeah, he was wrong. And you know, I think a few things. I would love to see higher ed be more innovative. You know, I, you know, and I go back. I mean, I got a lot out of college. I went to a public college in Virginia, but when I got my senior year, the tuition for the year was 250 bucks. You know, like My summer job, we had similar. We both worked at grocery stores for summer jobs. But you know, my summer job, I made enough to cover tuition, room and board for my last year of college. Yeah. And so that ratio is really unfavorable now. You can no longer even for a public college, a kid can't in a summer job unless they're an AI consultant or something. But if you just work a standard summer job, you're going to still be way underwater. I think you're going to see a lot of those. You know, we tend to just say higher ed as though it's one universal basket of schools offering similar experiences for their kids. You know, I'm a big fan. I don't know if you've read any of Paul Tough's books, but Paul is a very thoughtful guy and wrote a book called the Inequality Machine. And so where you teach or the Ivy League schools, their budget per student year to take care of and educate those students is six digits. You know, they charge 80 kids and they spend 100, 110, 120K. There are a lot of colleges where that budget per student year is like 2,500 bucks. And I think those are very vulnerable today. And what I'd love to see for the colleges that really do a great job for their kids, I'd love to see them expand the student body size. Why is selectivity such an important factor other than it flows into the US News and World Report. But wouldn't it be great if these colleges said over the next five years we're going to accept 10x the number students? I think that would be interesting. They certainly could hire great faculty for it. And they've got the money. And I do like when I first started working in Boston, you know, to be really direct, Northeastern was sort of like a third tier college. And now it's unbelievably hard to get into. And I just love what they're doing, right. You know, five years instead of four, two to two and a half years out in the real world in co ops where you're often making money and kids leave with a real sense of what they want to do and a great job path. But they also have a really strong liberal arts program. So it's not again, career only, but it's sort of like that, connecting learning to the real world. And so I think there are real opportunities there. But I do feel like we sense such a bad message. You know, you walk around college campuses, right, and they're like, kids will complain because they have to share A bathroom with three other kids. I mean, when I went to college, like, there were an entire hallway, all went to one bathroom, you know, like, and it wasn't plush and it wasn't cushy. And I think we sent a message to these kids, you've made it. You know, a school I visited and wrote about is in Washington State, Evergreen College. I mean, it's bare bones. You know, their campus is not UCLA.

Ted Dintersmith (46:25)

Yeah, I would say first, I would say put weight in terms of course requirements and graduation on real things you create and invent and stick with it until you've done something you're proud of and less on multiple choice exams. So I would start looking for authentic portfolios of progress, of impact, and make that at least part of what we expect kids to do through school. That'd be the first thing. The second thing is I think it's grossly irresponsible today to forbid kids from using AI. I don't think it should be in all classes, but I think if a kid spends 12 years in school, 14, whatever. However many years they spend, a kid that comes out of school really good at using AI can create or pursue almost any career they want. And a kid that can't, I think is going to be hurting. So we can do that, right? And we don't have to teach them, we just have to let them use it. But I'll give you an example. I give a guest lecture every year to a very well known public college, about 100 juniors and seniors. And two months ago I asked them, how many of you consider yourself today to be really good at AI? To, to be able to use AI to make yourself and those around you more productive? Hundred? Nobody? I said, no, no, no, wait, I'm not here. Like this isn't a witch hunt. I actually hope everybody holds your hand up. So let's do this again because by the way, this is going to be really important. Still no one. I mean, you know, like I'm, I'm, like my head's exploding. And I just explained to them, you can spend your next four months here or 16 months here, or, you know, 28 months here trying to eke out a 0.1 or 0.2 increase in your GPA or allocate time so you get really good at using AI whether it has the blessing of your Prof. Or not. And the difference is going to be enormous because if you do the first one, no one's going to care. And if you get good at using AI, write your own ticket. I got so many thank. I mean, how many college kids write thank you notes? No one, right? I got this whole bundle of thank you notes from these kids who, who somewhat to my amazement, said, I never really thought of that. You know, like, okay, so that would be my second one. And then the third is, I think, investing a lot more money in our teaching force. You know, a good friend of mine is a guy named Pasi Solberg. He wrote Finnish lessons. He architected all the changes in Finland. And interestingly, you ask Posi what made all the progress in Finland possible. It was a budget crisis. You know, the oil revenue tanked. They were under the gun and they had to make a choice. You know, we could do, do everything sort of half assed, or we could put our dollars on data, or we could put our dollars on teacher training. We can either have more data tracking how our kids are failing on goals that don't make sense, or we could put it into making our teachers amazing. They could shut down a bunch of the colleges of education. There's a joke in Finland, you know, three people going to the bar, a doctor, a lawyer and a teacher. And the bartender asked the doctor, why are you doctoring? So I didn't get into, I didn't get into the school of education and ask the lawyer, why are you a lawyer? Why? They turned me down. So I'm a lawyer career. But you know, it's like our teachers, we, we just wail on them, right? We, I mean, it's just heartbreaking and, and it ripples down. When I ask teachers in schools today what drew you to the profession? It is often my parent did, often the mother. And then I say to them, would you encourage your child to teach? And they say, nope, nope. And I'm living that. I've got a 27 year old daughter who does teach. And I mean like when I track how her hours are and how little she's paid, I'm not gonna. I hope she doesn't watch this podcast cause I'm thrilled, but I'm like, wow, it's a good thing she's incredibly frugal because no one could live on that salary.

Ted Dintersmith (50:43)

It's grim. I mean, the pipeline shriveled up, there are a lot of openings. So there is, I think anybody in that world would say there's an acute shortage of teachers. And, and it's just we've made it very un, you know. You know, if you're not on this page on October 19th, we'll wrap your knuckles. You know, I'm a supporter of and have visited several times. There's this National Teachers hall of Fame in the middle of nowhere in Kansas, Emporia, Kansas. And I, when I went all over the country, my wife and I are driving on a highway and we see this sign, National Teachers hall of Fame. I didn't even know it existed. It, we just said like, turned the car, drove off, went and visited, met the woman who run it, ran it. And I've been back several times and they've been unbelievably great in every respect. The museum itself compared to Canton, Ohio, or Cooperstown, New York. I mean, this is dinky, right? It's one little room, but at least it's there. But Scott, you go up on a hill, there's a knoll and a little chapter, and there are these obelisks. And the obelisks have the name of all the educators who've given their lives to protect and defend their kids from a shooter. And they're raising money. I just gave them the grant to finish it. But they have to put a whole new obelisk. And you know, it's 200 teach. And the point I say is we trust them with the lives of our kids, but we don't trust them with their lesson plans. And how, you know, like if, if nobody likes to be scripted every minute of the day, nobody likes to fear that if they say not quite the right thing, that some crazy parent will dox him on social media. I don't know. It's like this is the foundation of our country, right? Strong education is the key to a successful democracy. And if we get it right, things fall in place and if we botch it up, things fall apart. And I feel like we're 40 years into the botch up zone with this because the world's racing ahead and we stay stuck in time. Which is why I wrote the book Aftermath. I think it just is perfect, right? It says thousands of hours on math that no adult uses at the same time, never getting to the math ideas that define our lives in ways that tell kids, yeah, we don't have an answer to your question of when will I ever use it. It, there really is no point in this other than it gives us a nice way to rank and sort you, but do it anyway. And by the way, your goal is to out compete the people next to you. And then we say and wow, they're disillusioned and they leave school with no sense of purpose. And most of them feel wailed on, it's not okay. And I wish it weren't like that. I mean, I'd be traveling and having fun. I mean, I did find inventory, but I just feel like once you know that, you just say darn sorry about that. Those who know have to speak out. And that's what I try to do. Because these kids, I mean, you look at these eight, 10 year old kids, they kind of look up at you and you just know they're trusting the adults to make good decisions for them. And I don't think we Are.

Ted Dintersmith (54:21)

Well, I don't, I generally don't talk much about my own kids, but I've got a 29 year old son and a 27 year old daughter that in some ways are a microcosm of what we talked about. You know, our daughter loved school, loved the ideas, did a lot of other things besides study, but. But it just was easy for her. And so, you know, you look at her and you say, you know, she did incredibly well through the school process. Our son, from about grade three or four just hated it. And mostly he hated being told what to do. There was just something about this is what you have to do that he just didn't respond to. And so he spent a few weeks in college and just pulled the rip cord and sort of bootstrapped his way up to creating and directing music videos. And he's done things for the Grammys, things for the college football. I mean, he's bootstrapped his way up, but he's done. Well, yeah, he's done football, fine. But I think, and my advice to parents is this, kids will tell you what works for them. Kids have their interest, understand that. But I know with my son, if I had waged war and beat the bejeezers out of him to get a slightly higher gpa, our relationship would be broken. He probably would have at best turned 1B minus into a B or something. And I think he would have gotten a drumbeat of somehow people didn't admire him, people didn't respect him. So I say to parents, I mean, I think it's easy, right? Do you care more about the decal on the back of your car or do you care more about helping your kid find their lane and supporting the heck out of them? And most parents will tell me, of course, all I want is for my kid to be happy. A lot of parents act in the exact opposite way. They just like, I've reconnected with my high school. And so I went to a public high school in Northern Virginia. I gave a very controversial graduation speech that was so controversial I was booed by the audience. And when I went to school the next day, they called the police to arrest me. So that wasn't my, maybe my best moment in high school. But they approached me. I was giving a talk at a conference and a bunch of people from that high school came up to me. They had seen my work, my films, and read some of my books. And they brought me a framed picture of me from the year book that was kind of cool. But I've gone back there. And interestingly, one of the teachers had the kids watch, you know, my first film, most Likely to Succeed, and read some of my book, what School Could Be. And then each of these kids gave talks to their classmates, to their teachers, to parents, and to the principal. 36 kids. Not one said, school is a source of joy for me. I mean, many were in tears. And at the end, the principal said, I just have to ask, how do we let this happen? And I say some things. So you have a sense of what I might say to that group. I try not to totally diss it, but I sort of say we need to have schools of creativity and joy, not schools of drills and worksheets. And this mother and dad come up with their daughter. And I try to be very specific. I said to the daughter, your talk was really interesting. You made these two points. I thought they were great. Boom. The mother says to me, we really just are interested in this. Like, we know our daughter is not college material for this class of college, but what kind of AP course coverage and scores do you think she needs to get into this tier with a daughter right there? And I say, like, wait, your daughter just gave this great talk. Like, you need to be excited. Like, don't let your view about your daughter be defined by some anonymous 28 year old college admissions officer was probably there because their family gives a lot of money or they were an athlete. Like, help this kid find their length. She's great. And it's again, all I want is for my kid to be happy and then what happens, right? And I just say, believe that if that's your goal. And you know, I'll put it into the. A metaphor that you and I can understand. And I hope, I hope people listening to this can. Yeah, I'm a Venture guy through and through. I am a Venture guy. Venture guys don't tell anybody what to do. As a Venture guy, if we do our job, and I tried to do my job and I think I did it well, I try to find out what your dream is and support the hell out of you. Right? What do you want to accomplish and how can I help? And if I don't think you want to accomplish something that I care about or is important, I don't work with you. But that ripples through my view about education. Adults should figure out what that kid really feels they're put on this planet to do, which won't happen at age 5, may not happen at age 10. But if we work with those kids, by the time they leave school, they ought to have a clear sense of what problems they want to solve, what's important to them, what drives them, and then I think just support the heck out of them on that mission and don't sweat if they want to be an electrician versus being, whatever, an Ivy League college. I mean, help them find out their dreams and purpose and support them. That's what I would say to parents, because kids don't want to live the life you tell them to live. They want to live the life they want to create. And I think our role as adults, whether we're parents or teachers or friends or relatives, is to just help those kids blossom.