Millions of Americans are convinced, often vehemently so, that our public schools used to be better. They never were. Those who argue for the superiority of schools past are suffering from a debilitating disease. I have named this disease NOSTESIA - a mind altering mixture of 50% nostalgia and 50% amnesia.

The fact is that a vast majority of America's public schools are doing a better job now of educating America's youth than they have ever done before.

Many people, even some educators, do not believe this; they think they were better.

I recently gave a speech to a community group about the progress our schools have made and the need for everyone in the community to support their local schools. I man stood up as I finished and uttered the classic line, "If schools could just be the way they used to be around here, everything would be all right!"

I am always lying in the weeds waiting for someone to say this.

"Yes Sir. What year would that be?"

"1950! Those were the really good schools around here!"

"The drop out rate in 1950 was 50%", I said.

"You have to go back to the twenties for the really good schools," said an elderly woman in the front row.

"Ma'am," I said, "the drop out rate in 1920 was 80%. Today, the number is in single digits in most communities".

The man scowled at me, and placing his fists on his hips he proclaimed, "Oh, that's not true." Everybody I graduated with graduated! A classic case of NOSTESIA.

I am convinced that there is a quantifiable equation that can be used to determine an individual's Nostesia quotient:

A represents a person's age. O is number of years he or she has been out of school. Multiply these and you get NQ - the Nostesia Quotient. The higher the number, the more advanced the disease, and the less likely it is that the afflicted individual will accept the superiority of today's schools. Anyone with an NQ over 2000 will be beyond rational thought on the topic. This condition is not new, of course. Each succeeding generation of young people is regarded by their elders as intellectually deficient and educationally challenged. Suspicions about "these schools today" are linked to expressions of doubt and disapproval about "these kids today". Both can be traced as back as far as the written word.

The magnitude of the problem is, however, increasing today. Seventy six million of my brothers and sisters in the great boomer generation are slouching towards their golden years despite their best efforts. Many of them are mutating right before my eyes. I am increasingly surrounded by a group of friends and associates adamantly insisting that when we were young the students knew more, worked harder, were smarter, and had higher standards. None of this is true.

Nostesia can be cured, but it must be aggressively treated. The most effective treatment includes increased, direct exposure to students and teachers in schools (the more interactive the better), anything that develops an increased sense of ownership of the goals and methods of the schools, and, most importantly, regular, powerful doses of good news.