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The title of the product says it all: “Baby Einstein”. The name suggests that planting your child in front of a television to watch the instructional videos will inspire him or her to unlock the mysteries of our universe. Parents, it appears, are less than impressed with their offspring’s discoveries. The Walt Disney Company, owner of the “Baby Einstein” franchise, announced refunds for the disappointed parents of tiny intellectual non-performers.

What most parents thought was an educational tool was instead a video babysitter. Parents could attend to other matters while their child drooled and stared unblinkingly at the television screen’s colorful images, mesmerized by its hypnotic soundtrack. According to the New York Times, lawyers threatening a class action lawsuit sited studies suggesting that exposure to television in children ages 1 to 3 was “associated with attention problems at age 7.” “Baby Einstein” earns the Disney Company $200 million in sales per year. That’s a lot of money Americans dish out for their kids with no discernable educational value as a payoff. That got me to thinking.

The Heritage Foundation estimates that U.S. taxpayers spend approximately $111,000 per pupil – from elementary, secondary and on through completion of high school. According to Heritage:

A basic comparison of long-term spending trends with long-term measures of student academic achievement challenges the belief that spending is correlated with achievement…While spending per pupil has more than doubled, reading scores have remained relatively flat.

The Wall Street Journal reported that of the $800 billion spent by the Democratic congress last February, $115 billion went for education. With test score dropping, it’s hard to see our current educational system as being anything other than an expensive babysitting program. Now, educators busy themselves teaching totters hymns to President Obama, helping to assure that in the years ahead, these future voters have compliantly short attention spans. At least Disney’s “Baby Einstein” has a money back guarantee.

-- Mr. Curmudgeon