1.0Sightline Institutehttps://www.sightline.orgEric Hesshttps://www.sightline.org/profile/eric-hess/rich600338<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="aG7ZkxGyfx"><a href="https://www.sightline.org/2011/08/26/weekend-reading-82611/">Weekend Reading 8/26/11</a></blockquote><iframe sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" src="https://www.sightline.org/2011/08/26/weekend-reading-82611/embed/#?secret=aG7ZkxGyfx" width="600" height="338" title="“Weekend Reading 8/26/11” — Sightline Institute" data-secret="aG7ZkxGyfx" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" class="wp-embedded-content"></iframe><script type="text/javascript"> /* <![CDATA[ */ /*! This file is auto-generated */ !function(d,l){"use strict";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&"undefined"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!/[^a-zA-Z0-9]/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),c=new RegExp("^https?:$","i"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display="none";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute("style"),"height"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):"link"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute("src")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener("message",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll("iframe.wp-embedded-content"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute("data-secret"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+="#?secret="+t,e.setAttribute("data-secret",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:"ready",secret:t},"*")},!1)))}(window,document); /* ]]> */ </script> Alan: Maybe it's because I am a product of public schools, the father of two public school students (and one public school graduate!), and the son, brother, and ex-husband of public school teachers---two of them with jobs currently insecure because of state budget cuts (while ExxonMobil is reporting record profits)--- but I was moved deeply by Garret Keizer's essay, "Getting Schooled: The re-education of an American teacher" (subs. required) in the September Harper's. It is, on its surface, an anecdotal memoir of his one-year return to teaching highschool English in the poor, rural, New England school where he had worked many years earlier. An early theme is the challenge of teaching well. He writes, "even under ideal circumstances, public-school teaching is one of the hardest jobs a person can do." He adds (to my amusement, because I majored in philosophy in college):