Totally Off-Topic, and Yet...

One of the best pieces I've read in a long time: Sandra Tsing Loh on public schools, the myth and the reality, in the Atlantic a few months ago. I got to know her years ago in a non-theatrical context--then took the opportunity to cover her theatre work. It's great to catch up with her fierce, irrepressible, beyond-p.c. voice again. To wit:

The bad news in our most cosmopolitan and vibrant cities is that many middle-class people can no longer afford to live in “middle-class” school districts. The good news, if my experience is any indication, is that this could drive middle-class white children back into local poor brown schools, and they would come with parents armed with higher educations, the Internet, fiercely lofty expectations, and an ability to read and (at least vaguely) understand federal legislation. What happens to poor public schools when, God forbid, pushy middle-class, Type A, do-it-yourself PTA mothers become involved and agitate to lift up the boats, not just of their own children but, perforce, of their children’s disadvantaged classmates as well?

Good, good stuff.