The birds stay every winter and the two of them feed them potato skins now. After her parents had died she married what seemed like the nicest guy in the nearest village, and he came back to her little farm; barley and potatoes on about an acre. He was an adequate farmer and in due [...]

Washington, D.C., in late June is as good a place as any to brood about the predicament of our humanity. It is hot and the streets are available to all; this is a democracy. There are blacks, there are whites and browns; those that speak English and those that speak many other languages. There are [...]

He feels like her uncle, or a big brother to her. To her he feels like a friend, her best friend. It’s important to her because now there is no father. There was the divorce that at first was just the logical and right thing to do. But, perhaps for the same reasons that the [...]

“I began taking standardized tests for fun. I would take them I the morning with a cup of coffee, the way other people do crosswords. I found a hidden structure to standardized tests that makes them quite easy. And hilarious. I was obsessive, taking every GMAT, LSAT, SAT, and GRE that had ever been published. [...]

State by state the US has adopted the very European idea of compulsory education, along with the public option used by some 90% of students. Compulsory is a very substantial restriction on freedoms, both of parents and children. The argument is that a universally educated public creates a more healthy and prosperous nation capable of [...]

When I was younger, adults often asked me; “What do you want to be when you grow up?” And I answered, truthfully, “An eagle.” Now, when they ask and I give that still truthful answer, they say; “No, no, not in your fantasy. You will be a woman when you grow up. What do you [...]

I met Mike Johnston yesterday who carried the Colorado bill that will tie teacher evaluation to be 50% determined by student achievement, without any  definition of what student achievement might be or how determined. There is just the promise that “We will answer these questions before 2014; trust us.” Now, bills don’t usually pass with [...]