That philosophy pretty much hasn’t changed. I was always irritated about nap time, especially when kids who would sleep the soundest would get the most gold stars. What kind of meritocracy is this? I would often look out the window and wish the teacher would let me outside than sleep. I slept 0 times during the whole school year in kindergarten. As a result, not as many gold stars as the lazy girl in my class.

I was never a fan of school lunches either. Ask my family about the time I turned my cafeteria chair around, arms folded, as a protest to the atrocious food found in public schools (alas private schools are about the same). I was able to score peanut butter and jelly sandwiches from home for a while, but eventually I caved when my Dad started coming to school and making me eat the gruel. I didn’t want to disappoint my folks, you know.

All this to say when I hear about school lunch cuts or school vouchers, I get excited. I have very DEEPLY ENGRAINED beliefs about the ability of the state to feed and babysit young ones (that’s you’uns for Kentucky readers) that goes far beyond what my parents taught me or what I read on right wing websites. This is downright biological.

What got me thinking about this was an interview I saw with Jonathan Kozol about his new book. He is your run-of-the-mill teacher/activist (is that redundant?). Now, sometimes liberals like him can point out problems, and in his interview he talked about white flight and the resulting “apartheid” in inner city public schools. His language is caustic, but he did have some points. Interestingly, the most “socially segregated” schools are in New York, California, Michigan, and Illinois. Now, those are some of the bluest states around, except for those with not enough blacks to warrant segregation (e.g. Vermont, Minnesota). That being said, Columbus probably wouldn’t fare much better in my estimation.