My favorite tweet of the week came from Neil DeGrasse Tyson: “In school, students cheat because the system values high grades more than students value learning.” Amen to that Dr. Tyson. Amen to that. When one of the most famous intellectuals in the American scientific community says that there’s a problem with the education system, we should all listen. But this is not a novel new perspective on the shortcomings of American education: educators and students alike have long been clamoring for change.

Think for a moment about all the changes that have occurred in American society: technological revolution, LGBT rights, the rise of liberal politics, heightened visibility of minorities in the media, etc. One of the only things that has remained largely the same since decades ago is the education system.

Students come to a single classroom with twenty to thirty other children from their neighborhood and take notes over topics that often don’t resonate with or engage them. They are told where to sit, when to stand, when to go to the bathroom, when to eat, when and how to speak and think.

Schools may educate students about the world around them to a certain extent, but very rarely do they teach them the tools to interpret their circumstances and make their own niche in the world. They produce well-trained individuals, not intellectuals with lifelong admiration for learning and knowledge. Middle school students should not be whooping and hollering on the last day of school because freedom stretches out in front of them; high school seniors should not be breathing deep sighs of relief upon graduation; we should not view school as a chore. But we do and the education system does little to persuade us otherwise.

Perhaps instead of pitting students against each other based on something as inconsequential as GPA, we should reward students for their unique accomplishments. Every student has different interests, different learning patterns, different skill levels and it is a grave error to assume that the playing field is even.

Instill in students a desire to better themselves, not beat their fellow classmates in some glorified race to take all the AP classes. Teach us about philosophy and religion and politics and current events, not just the pseudo-intellectual ramblings of a long-dead bureaucrat. Teach us the value of a meaningful group discussion and how to hold polite, but opinionated conversations. Teach us how to collaborate to achieve a common goal. These things will ultimately further our understanding of the role we are to play in this world.

Teach us how to change the world, not how to pick A, B, C, or D.