Pulitzer winner returns to roots

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Marilynne Robinson spoke Thursday evening at the Panida Theater in Sandpoint about the importance of public education in Idaho. Robinson, a graduate of Coeur d’Alene High School who grew up in Sandpoint, credits her teachers in North Idaho for “giving me my mind.”

Robinson talked broadly about education in America, comparing it favorably to systems in places such as France. You hear, she said, “that American education has failed.” However, the fact that our country still emphasizes writing is a good thing, she said, and sets us apart from some European systems where university students sit in giant lecture halls and take exams once a year.

She critiqued the French system that “offloads” underperforming middle school and high school students into trade-focused and “professional” high schools, where it is difficult if not impossible for students to migrate to university-bound tracks/ Katie Botkin , Coeur d’Alene Press. More here.