John Taylor Gatto
John Taylor Gatto (born December 15, 1935 ) is an American author and former school teacher with nearly 30 years of experience in the classroom. He devoted much of his energy to his teaching career, then, following his resignation, authored several books on modern education, criticizing its ideology, history, and consequences. He is best known for the underground classic "Dumbing Us Down: the Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling", and his magnum opus "The Underground History of American Education: A Schoolteacher’s Intimate Investigation Into the Problem of Modern Schooling". He was named New York City Teacher of the Year in 1989, 1990, and 1991, and New York State Teacher of the Year in 1991.