The Plight of Education

Most days I read two to three newspapers to stay up to date on whats going on in the world. One of my favorite things to do is read some of the comment chains on popular articles and stories of controversial issues. Of late the more I read and research controversial issues, the more I come what is the biggest problem in American education, the inability to think critically.  

I love to talk politics with people, especially if they don't agree with me. ( You learn more about the world by looking out a window then by looking in a mirror)  Lately I have run into a large number on both sides of the political spectrum that don't think critically, they think emotionally. They are more likely to yell at you then talk with you. 

My parents are both teacher and conversations like this come up all the time. How do we teach critical thinking?  Mainstream education teaches you what to think, not how to think.  What we need is to focus more on the latter. With "Education reform" making education look more like an assembly line then a school. The question beckons...What are we teaching our kids? 

Being a higher education student myself, I have learned and refined the ability to regurgitate the equivalent of an education hairball in class, but true understanding is another situation entirely. So i would pose the question, should we be focusing on measurable criteria? Or on something more in depth when i comes to education reform?