Five Best Blogs: What If Reformers & Educators Are *Both* Wrong?

Can schools spur social mobility? Probably not as much as reformers [and many educators] think @MichaelPetrilli ow.ly/c971I

Esquire pokes a little fun at D. Brooks' column on boys needing extra help in school ow.ly/c8WAZ 

Alternet wants you to be very scared about the parent trigger, which sort of suggest to me that you shouldn't be ow.ly/c8VS7 

Should Philadelphians worry that BCG has done so much consulting for the district? The Notebook says probably not ow.ly/c8VGZ 

Proliferation of college courses on The Colbert Report suggests that, well, maybe college isn't worth it after all http://ow.ly/c97KU

Malcolm Gladwell's 2013 underdogs book to be based on girls HS bball team he wrote about and solve all our problems http://ow.ly/c97Sl 

Comments

[Sarah]

I learned a lot watching Stephen Colbert in high school. His show is actually one of my "won't miss" shows, and I watch it nightly on Hulu. He's honest, even if some feel he's flippant and rude. I get and enjoy his sarcasm.

Given that and the statistics, I think the simple truth about the majority of his watchers not having a degree is simply the cost. When I started looking seriously at colleges, I had a 3.98 GPA, had already taken five AP classes, and had the best SAT score in my school. I received lots of flak for not looking at Ivy league schools. In the end, it all came down to money. I simply couldn't afford the $100,000+ price tag to get a degree, so I opted for a technical college that will end up costing me under $24k in student loans after four years.

[Sarah]

Hmm. I always felt like the underdog in school, and I haven't won yet. Wonder what I'm doing wrong, might have to read the book for a few laughs and to find out...