Is mainstream education failing the next generation?
In this episode of the TAC Podcast, we sit down with Jeremy Wayne Tate, founder and CEO of the Classic Learning Test (CLT), to explore how standardized testing has reshaped American education — and why a classical alternative may be the key to renewal.
From the rise of the SAT and Common Core to the growing influence of AI in classrooms, Tate argues that tests don't just measure education — they drive it. As reading lists shrink, calculators replace mental math, and ChatGPT writes student essays, what happens to real learning?
We discuss:
• How the SAT and ACT transformed curriculum
• Why great books matter more than ever
• The danger of reducing education to job training
• AI, cheating, and the collapse of intellectual formation
• The revival of classical education nationwide
• Whether this moment is a true renaissance
In a time of cultural fragmentation and technological upheaval, this conversation asks a deeper question: What is education for?If the future of work is uncertain, perhaps the future belongs to those formed in wisdom, virtue, and first principles.
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