The most fascinating normative debates in my ed policy course come from reading Jencks (1988), "Who Must We Treat Equally for Educational Opportunity to Be Equal?"
He describes 5 ways of thinking about equal ed opportunity 1/
- Democratic equality: equal time/attention to all
- Moralistic justice: reward those making the most effort
- Weak human justice: compensate for disadvantages related to prior home & school environments, but not those relating to genetics
2/
- Strong humane justice: compensate for prior home, school, and genetic differences
- Utilitarianism: maximize avg well-being of society; focus on increasing the mean more than worrying about the variance
3/
Kids' case rates in NYC are 10 times larger this week than in the same week of 2020 for kids 0-12, and 7 times larger for kids 13-17.
In light of these data, let's evaluate the argument against offering families a remote schooling option this fall. 1/
In cities that have refused to offer remote, elected officials have staked their claims on what is in children’s “best interests.”
As Bill DeBlasio’s press secretary @BNeidhardt said, “If schools are safer, then why rob kids of the better education?” 2/
Ultimately, the remote question comes down to who should have the right to make judgments about what’s best for their own kids *in situations where that decision does not have a clear and immediate negative impact on others.*
(This distinguishes the remote q from masking.) 3/
In the opening episode of @Princeton's spring season: I received a panicked email from a neighbor on Fri night concerned there was a break-in at my house in #Trenton. No broken glass, but front blinds amiss. 1/
NYC-->Trenton -->The Most Evil Animal in the World taunting us from the window: see lineup.
Not my first rodeo. I lost 3 wars @Princeton with dorm-intruding squirrels. Still bitter about the one who ate my pralines.
Per Trenton history, it was General Mercer. (upper left) 2/
General Mercer took the re-enactment of the Battles of Princeton and Trenton very seriously. And won.
Fun fact: General Mercer likes to chew. Wood is king, but won't say no to polyamory with a sweet-faced couch.
Below: Trenton Makes, General Mercer Takes My Whole House. 3/