- Donald Kagan, in a Wall Street Journal op-ed, argues that democracy requires patriotism. “In the long and deadly battle against those who hate Western ideals, and hate America in particular, we must be powerfully armed, morally as well as materially,” he writes. Love of, support for, and defense of one’s country necessitates unity—a connection to one’s fellow citizens. But connectedness in America seems fleeting. Call it what you want—the marriage crisis, bowling alone, free-agent nation—we are living in the age of autonomy, and our bonds to other people and to our nation just aren't what they used to be. Schools can counteract this by instilling civic devotion, and they ought to because down the path of total autonomy lies chaos and anarchy.
- Puzzlingly, the AFT Local 958 in Providence, R.I. just endorsed a mayoral candidate who has twice been forced to resign from the very office for which he’s running due to felony convictions. In 1984, “he pleaded no contest to charges of assault with a dangerous weapon and assault on and battery of” a local contractor named Ray DeLeo. Mayor Cianci “burned Mr. DeLeo with a cigarette, threw an ashtray at him and assaulted him with a fireplace log during a three-hour altercation at Mr. Cianci's rented carriage house,” the New York Times reported. After a five-year suspended sentence, he was reelected, only for history to repeat itself in 2001, when “Cianci and eight others were indicted on federal racketeering charges, for pocketing $1.5 million in bribes on city contracts. He was convicted of racketeering conspiracy and sentenced to five years in prison” reported the Daily News. Making this endorsement even odder is the union’s rejection of Jorge Elorza, the leading Democratic candidate, who happens to be a respected former judge with good poll numbers. Odd, that is, until we learn that Elorza supports charter schools. Thanks for the character lesson, AFT.
- Last week, former President Bill Clinton said that we ought to close charter schools that fail to outperform the public model—which he called the “original bargain.” We emphatically agree. And so do others. Aside from some strange comments about how three tests are enough over a kid’s K–12 career and how Bill de Blasio is doing a good job regulating charters, the comments are quite welcome. So we applaud the former head of state, even if he’s merely echoing what charter advocates have been saying for twenty-odd years.
