I'm not a Wisconsinite but have heard of him because of this viral email with a speech mistakenly attributed to Bill Gates, "Rules Kids Won't Learn in School". Sykes has written some books attacking education, such as Profscam in '89 or so, and more recently in '07 or so 50 Rules Kids Won't Learn in School: Real-World Antidotes to Feel-Good Education. (Those "rules" in that viral email were from his 1996 book Dumbing Down Our Kids: Why American Children Feel Good About Themselves But Can't Read, Write, or Add.)
Sykes is also in this right wing WI think tank too. He's part of this right wing industry complaining about public education and the "self esteem movement" whatever that is, blaming the left for why schools aren't good, consider the subtitles of his books like "Why American Children Feel Good About Themselves But Can't Read, Write, or Add" and "Real-World Antidotes to Feel-Good Education". I hear right wingers say "education doesn't prepare kids for the real world" all the time and that is why they oppose anti-bullying initiatives or ANYTHING that DARES make a child feel happy at school.
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