Feeling A Little Down? Here's Why.

It's not just the school bus shooting in Las Vegas.  First you find out that what happens in schools really doesn't matter.  More time in class makes only a teensy bit of difference.  And then it turns out that Vermont's Montpelier HS isn't #5 in the nation after all. School turnarounds don't work.  KIPP teachers probably can't go to Aruba this year.  And FLA educators can't tempt slackers with Happy Meals.  Jay Mathews tries to make you feel a little better, but by this point you're pretty much inconsolable.  The ice storm is heading East and there are no more new episodes of the Colbert Report or 30 Rock.  Then PBS decides to run a segment on college tuition including Rick Kahlenberg, always on the verge of invoking Al Shanker. Meanwhile, Maggie Spellings has gone to ground, probably plotting some unholy mishmash of waivers and pilot initiatives.  And George Miller wanders around tearing down his own law, which is just sorta awkward and painful to watch.