John Gatto had a stroke several months ago that left him paralyzed on one side of his body. He doesn’t want any more flowers and cards, but he does want prayers and love sent his way. To encourage those healing feelings I asked John for permission to make public his speech, Weapons of Mass Instruction, that he delivered at my Learning In Our Own Way conference in 2005. He said “Yes!’ before I could finish my sentence.

For someone struggling with physical disability and all the woes that come with that, I was amazed at how clearly and strongly John spoke about what is happening in schools today. Though confined to bed, the strength of his thoughts overcame his rigid body and we spoke for nearly two hours. John is a fighter, as this speech will show you, and the fighting spirit he displayed to me in the nursing facility was inspiring, as I hope you find this talk to be, too.