The Atlantic Monthly on Public Schools

My dad forwarded me this frighteningly well written piece on public schools. I can totally relate to the author's experience with public school (phrases like "totally relate" place me in a lesser category of scribe than Sandra Tsing Loh, unfortunately. Guess that's why I don't write for The Atlantic Monthly). I'm still amazed that I can get good, free school for my son here in Oakland, a city with a maligned system that is still under a state takeover (an honor it shares with gritty Compton in So Cal). Most of what you hear is how atrocious our schools are, but once you probe deeper you see there are vast resources and motivated PTAs throughout the district. Granted, they're not in my neighborhood, but a liberal transfer policy lets me and a lot of like-minded parents choose schools with better track records than the ones down the street. At first, I assumed we were part of a tiny minority who had transferred into my son's school, but I soon discovered that it was nothing to be ashamed of, with some 40% of families coming from outside that neighborhood.

But Loh sounds like she's an awesome super mom, one who puts me to shame. (Heck, I'm not really trying lately, other then my once-a-week stint in the classroom.) She's started a music program with grant-supplied instruments and took a poor(er) immigrant student under her wing for violin lessons in her home. Overall, I liked Loh's take on music:

People used to make music together, singing in churches, playing in bands. Today, music is a commodity, marketed as an item to be possessed by individuals— “my music,” people say. The image of a listener is one person, alone, headphones on, entranced by his personal shuffle. It is now de rigueur to mock the sort of genteel suburban ’60s childhood I experienced, with its Scout songs like “This Land Is Your Land” and “Bingo Was His Name-O.” However, when the 5-year-olds in our kindergarten were asked to name a familiar tune, the one most of them recognized was from High School Musical. With today’s separation of church and tribe and home country, if public schools don’t create a common culture, Disney or Nintendo will.