John Taylor Gatto (December 15, 1935 – October 25, 2018) was an American author, school teacher and public figure. After teaching for nearly 30 years he authored several books on American schools. He is best known for his books Dumbing Us Down: the Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling, and The Underground History of American Education: A Schoolteacher’s Intimate Investigation Into the Problem of Modern Schooling which promote self-study, unschooling and homeschooling.
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Biography
Gatto was born to Andrew Michael Mario and Frances Virginia (née Zimmer) Gatto in Monongahela, Pennsylvania, a steel town near Pittsburgh. In his youth he attended public schools throughout the Pittsburgh Metro Area including Swissvale, Monongahela, and Uniontown as well as a Catholic boarding school in Latrobe. He attended numerous undergraduate and graduate institutions.