time for change (Score 1)

Reading Katz's last two pieces has made me realize how lucky I was in HS and how bad our current system is. I went to a public alternative high school (no football or basketball) and was at most a bi-geek. I could certainly pass as mainstream. I even remember thinking that I was more likely to meet girls in a lit class than in calc. So I took the lit class and after 15 years of getting educated and meandering in the lit vein, I ended up coding for a living. Why did I feel compelled to take that detour? Why isn't our society cherishing the skills & the outlook on life that are responsible for the computer/knowledge revolution going on now?

I have two children now and all I want for them is to be able to grow up true to their natures. The first is starting kindergarden next year and she will be going to a co-op school that will cost a lot more in our time and money than the public alternatives. What my children will get back is a more personal education that values both cooperation and difference.

The Littleton news and the Katz pieces have convinced me that this is the right choice. I hope solutions like this are blazing the way for systematic change rather than just a private escape from the wider problem.

The irony of it all, is that I am only able to afford something better for my kids because I hung on to enough of my geekiness that getting back into software was a snap. I hope that there is at least a little comfort in that.