John Taylor Gatto was an American author and school teacher. After teaching for nearly 30 years he authored several books on modern education, criticizing its ideology, history, and consequences. 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.

Monongahela, referred to locally as Mon City, is a third class city in Washington County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 4,149 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area, about 17 miles (27 km) south of Pittsburgh proper.