Oddly enough, I just saw that book in the professional library at my school. Your posts are thoughtful and reasoned out, because I respect you, I will read it and then let you know what I think.
And I'm not naive enough to think that my experience is nation-wide. I know it is not. I celebrate my children and wish that others had the same opportunity. But in all fairness, Virginia schools are some of the best in the nation, that is why Gabz and I, although we live in different parts of the state have similiar feelings towards our schools. Were we to live in Detroit, I would imagine we'd sing a different tune.
I am in total agreement. I was singing that different tune in Delaware, which is one of the reasons we left. My husband, his sisters and his nieces are all products of a central Delaware school district. They are all contributing, productive members of society, no thanks to the school system but rather to the attention paid to their education by their parents and a few dedicated teachers. My husband swore on the graves of his parents no child of his would ever attend a school in that district.