a good essay on making schools work:

Oddly, the first extraordinary boon for public education in America is the economic apocalypse. A 30-year-long habit of increasing privatization of our own little corners of democracy, of swiping the credit card to flee our public spaces, is dying hard. Even in Los Angeles, independent schools are feeling the hit as families who can no longer afford the $20,000-plus tuitions are transitioning to public school. Yes, they may be charter schools but, in a gradual move from competition to community thinking, it is a first step.

On top of that, Mr. Obama’s presidency has indeed set off an emotional sea change: Why look at that, there is new hope for everything, even public schools! I see, amazingly, small green shoots of tentative optimism even among my Left Coast private school Democrats — those who’ve fallen into a bad habit of mocking public education in every sentence, as though it is a George W. Bush “No Child Left Behind” swamp they’d never deign to venture into, a dumping ground for the unsophisticated, a warehouse for the poor. With any luck, in the next generation, the meritocratic dream conveyed in the ascension of Barack Obama will not hinge on a lucky jaunt at the Punahou School but will be entwined in a narrative that reflects the triumph of public school, a fought-for hearth in which burns the essential goodness, fair-mindedness and optimism of America.