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Michael Green (UVa) was recently funded by the NEH to build a summer institute to promote the teaching of Philosophy in highschool. Three cheers for Michael Green! Champagne all aroung! Here's the story:

U.Va. professor aims to strengthen teaching of high school philosophy

I do worry a little about claims like these:

Further, those properly exposed to philosophy develop a skill that is surprisingly uncommon – namely the ability to tell good arguments from bad, regardless of the subject matter,” he continued. "As future voters, consumers, parents and policymakers, secondary-level students exposed to philosophy are better equipped to spot fallacious reasoning in public discourse, advertising and elsewhere

 I grant this is a staple argument, pulled from Dewey and repeated in countless curriculum and academic planning committee meetings around the country. But isn't it fundamentally an empirical claim?  Do we have any actual evidence that critical thinking skills developed by philosophy instruction transfer to the domain of civil discourse? Anyone know?