Special ed.

Exactly. Why didn’t I ever think of this? In the September Harper’s, not yet on-line, P. Schrag in “Schoolhouse Crock” essays why education may be the most hysterical subject in the land (next to gay marriage, anyway). In America, education is in constant crisis, and has been so from Sputnik. Schools are expected to do the impossible. Needless to say, they fail. Of course they do, because schools don’t exist without the context of stable families, good jobs, childcare, wellness/health care, and social welfare, and above all, the class divide then rends America. Regardless of how much money is spent, regardless of how many tests are given in No Childhood Left, schools alone can’t get over this divide.
*

Jesus Christmas, that was bile-rising: hearing Rove choke up about his close pal George as he promised more time with his family (ha-ha-ha, I always love that one). O yeah, present at the counterrevolution...