I've been refocusing my energy on local issues, and so haven't been thinking about the things that I usually think about here. This ridiculous incident with Anthony Weiner is the most recent absurdity. I'm tired of pulling my hair out in disgust or dismay. It's just so pointless and so it's better to refocus one's energy where one has a chance of having an impact.

That focus will be for me local public education. The local school district in Seattle has been disaster for going on ten years now.  I'll get into some of the details later, and what happened recently that got me so riled up about it. It's really rather intriguing in a way how all the national themes play out on the local stage–tax policy, the allocation of scarce resources, privatization, the role of unions, local vs. central, etc.

As with most things on the national level, there is a lot of confusion and muddled thinking.  But what makes Seattle different is that almost everybody is "liberal" at least by national standards, and yet the rifts are just as fiercely defined. But the difference lies in that on the local level, there's a possibility of doing something–or so it seems. We'll see.  Money is power here as it is everywhere, and we'll see if there is enough of a popular will to counterbalance it.

So I'm probably going to run for the school board in my district. I'm not likely to win, but I thought I'd put some skin in the game and see if I can find a way to have an impact on something that is so very important on a level so many  people experience and which is so important for the future of the country.

I may use this space to occasionally talk about the old themes, but more likely will use it more to think out loud as I dig deeper into broader issues of educational philosophy the local scene. I would loosely call myself a Ravitchian in a district that is very much under the sway of Bill & Melinda Gates money and reform philosophy. I don't question the good intentions, but I see that approach as deeply misguided suffering from a flawed top-down corporate mentality. And I look forward to having that argument with people who see it otherwise.

More later.