Three articles in the most recent Atlantic got me thinking about different aspects of education policy.
First is this fascinating piece by James Fallows about how Google may save the traditional news industry. Even if you're not interested in education, this is worth the read. I read the article as I was leaving the Education Writers Association annual meeting. The best education writers help many of us do our jobs?for example, check out the endnotes of these three docs?and we have to figure out some way to keep their organizations (or some version of their organizations) solvent. Google may have the answer.
Second is this very interesting article about the changing fortunes of suburban and urban areas. Though the article focuses on the housing and transportation implications of cities' increasing attractiveness in the eyes of?young, upwardly mobile families, there are clear consequences for schooling. This article from Sunday's Washington Post discusses another side of the phenomenon.
Finally, Caitlin Flanagan, who writes regularly about the lives of young women, turns in this piece grounded in a compelling interpretation of how girls are rebelling against society's most crass excesses. I've long believed that West Coast rappers foreshadowed the post-Rodney King LA riots and that Pearl Jam's Jeremy foreshadowed the growing number of school shootings that would later plague America. I never considered that Taylor Swift may be unknowingly singing about issues?far larger than high school romance. I wonder if schools are tuned into this?
?Andy Smarick