From "Notes From a Subterranean Library in Oregon," a compilation of Ray Peat's newspaper letters and columns, compiled by T3Uncoupled (2023). Originally published 1981.

Ray Peat, "Poor leadership", p. 43

When half the people are functionally illiterate, traditional and simplistic opinions have a natural tendency to flourish. A self-interested politician will know how to take advantage of the public’s cultural backwardness. When a state superintendent of schools acts like a common politician, our culture is sure to be degraded. When Verne Duncan says that he would prefer leaving to local school districts the issue of equal time for creationism in the science curriculum, I feel he is providing retrograde leadership. If a state superintendent of schools can’t inform himself and take appropriate action on a matter of curriculum, what is his function?