My visit to New England this summer has reinforced my notion that upkeeping any historic property is an immense task, ultimately requiring millions of dollars. In most of the homes I visited, even those with endowments and of well-known figures, there is always work to be done. For example, in the Frelinghuysen house the Dining Room window had suffered a crack and was duck-taped. Another ledge next to a window suffered from obvious water damage. The director noted to us that while there are some structural issues that need attention, there are sometimes conflicting reports about how to best replace an item. Also, in the case of the Frelinghuysen house and others, if you are starting with the original items, I would assume you want to keep the original for as long as possible, while still preventing any future damage to the property.
Another case in point occurred at Naumkeag (a gilded age "summer cottage/mansion" built in the 1880s by the Choate family). The guide here showed us a bedroom with bold fabrics on the bed and window drapery. However, she then took out a sample of what the original fabric looked like (brown beyond recognition, faded, tattered with holes). In this case, the curators were lucky in that the original receipt for the purchase of the fabric was in the archives. They contacted the company in England, who had a sample pattern swatch in their archive, and they were able to replicate the original fabric for the restoration. In most cases is it never this easy.
In 2010, I spent a week in Concord, Massachusetts, at a National Endowment for the Humanities summer workshop. We visited numerous sites, including the homes of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Louisa May Alcott. At these homes, and others, I was struck by the lack of central air, climate controlled conditions, and the constant need for repair, upkeep and restoration. At one historic home there were 150 year old books on the shelf with windows open and floor fans running. I could only think about the humidity damage.
So, anyway, this vacation has reinforced the notion that our houses and our bodies, and we are always in some state of decay, which is only natural and expected. I guess the task of life is to focus on those things which blunt the force of corrosion a bit more easily, such as relationships, love, and friendship.
Wednesday, July 3, 2013
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
More From the Southern Bershires
The earliest part of the original home (the left hand side with the window facade and triangular tipped roof) was an artist studio modeled after a building in France, which George discovered on one of his visits in the early 1920s. The studio was built in 1925, with the rest of the house added in 1940, when he married. Modernist architecture also greatly influenced the new addition. Because the museum's season just opened on Thursday of this past week, attendance was slow, to my great delight. On my tour, it started with just ME, along with two other guides, and the director, Kenny Frelinghuysen, the nephew of George and Susie. Soon into the tour, three other guests joined in. The main guide for my tour, Anna, offered excellent insight into modern art, the connection of art to architecture, and the use of line and shape in art. The house is full of suprises, first that is it is SO modern for the time....the living room, for example, still with original furnishings from 1940, could easily be lived in today. Large dramatic windows opened onto the landscaped lawn.
Each room took full advantage of distinct views. In the dining room and living room, I noticed small pinholes, which I was told were lights. They are not fixtures, but literally look like a whole in the wall...and placed at odd spaces high on the wall. One guide mentioned that in the living room these were meant to direct light to the two large frescos that George had painted on the wall surrounding the fireplace (you can see one of these on the left of the fireplace in photo to right). In the dining room they were also placed to create some light effect, and that this was the only light in the dining room save candles and two backlight wall features/sculptures. The use of light immediately took me back to my visit to the Gropius House in Lincoln, Massachusetts, in 2010. One of the most outstanding features to me there was a description of how Gropious installed a pinhole light over the dining room table. When he hosted dinner parties for four or six, the pinhold opening above the table was just large enough that when light projected, it covered the table to its edges, but no more. Talk about dining drama! I also think about how intensely design oriented this couple was, thinking imaginatively about how to use light to shape art/nature/life. I also can not help but to compare that with the many hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people across the nation, who in the late 1930s were still not electrified (especially more rural pockets of the deep South). If I still find the home amazing and "modern" in 2013, what would someone in 1940 have thought? It blows me away.
The entrance to the home is both everyday and quite dramatic. The front door is a standard size, but you step into to a marbled wide foyer or galley that includes floor to ceiling windows and glassed-paneled doors that open to the backyard landscape. A novel feature for their day, but more mundane to us, was the use of flourescent lighting overhead. Most outstanding in the entrance hall was the stairway leading up to the second floor.
If ever in Lenox, please visit this place, it is fascinating beyond belief. The guides know a lot about the property and you will come away with a greater appreciation for art, design, and landscape.
Next I ventured over to Chesterwood, the home of Daniel Chester French, most notable for creating the sculpture design for the Lincoln Memorial. French actually created many well-known sculptures, for private citizens, for memorials, including the famous Patriot statue in Concord, Massachusetts, and a well-known statue in Dupont Circle in Washington, D.C. Again, like most places around here, the landscape and the views were all incredible.I can see why people fled New York City and Boston to come here for a long summer season. The day I visited also opened their annual comtemporary art show, so more modern pieces of art/scupture were placed around the property for viewing.
My final stop for the day was the Norman Rockwell museum. The is probably one of the most visited sites in the area and always appealing. When Rockwell arrived in western Massachusetts he originally painted in the town of Stockbridge, but when this museum was built outside of town, they also acquired his studio and moved it to its current location. One other side note. I ate lunch at this museum and they had sandwiches catered from the Red Lion Inn in downtown Stockbridge. The turkey cranberry mayo sandwich was great, and a good value. It is worth considering this museum for a quick lunch!
Friday, June 21, 2013
Up the Hudson River Valley to Western Massachusetts
I have not posted in a while, but since I am on a vacation break, I thought it might be nice to write down a few observations while traveling.
I was a long drive yesterday from Jacksonville, through D.C. through Gettysburg, P. A. to the far outskirts of suburban NYC. Two interesting notes from yesterday...the drive from Maryland up through Gettysburg was amazingly beautiful, with a nice sunset and great views off the highway. Once dusk hit, there was a bonanza of fireflies, which looked almost like fireworks going off there were so many. One oddity...July 1-3 is the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg. While driving the outskirts here today I noticed that the outlet mall had a huge Abraham Lincoln with a big "150th" beneath it....all in lights. A bit odd.
Today's activities amazed me. I visited Franklin D. Roosevelt's homeplace in Hyde Park, New York. The tour is great. The home was actually owned by his mother, who, depending upon what you read, was a shrew, a mean controlling thing....or someone who was out to see that her son was well cared for. Either way, I learned a few weird facts. Roosevelt obviously grew up with wealth, but by fourteen he had traveled to Europe seven times, and was fluent in both French and German. His father gave him a gun to shoot birds, but he had to promise not to hunt during nesting or mating season. In the Hyde Park mansion there were dozens of stuffed birds.
I have not seen the new movie with Bill Murray as FDR, but the rooms are clearly marked where the former future King and Queen of England stayed when they visited the Roosevelts in 1939. The tour guide also mentioned that while FDR gave us the famous line, "there is nothing to fear, but fear itself," he was deathly afraid of fire (after developing polio and losing the use of his legs). They showed us all sorts of ancient fire prevention devices in the house (kind of like a fire extinguisher today). The guide also provided a funny quip about why FDR used those long cigarette holders...once, when asked he replied, "my doctor told me to stay as far away from smoking as possible."
Also on today's agenda was a visit Val-Kil, the cottage/home built by Eleanor Roosevelt with two of her friends during the mid-1920s. The home was built on the Roosevelt property, and Eleanor never spent the night there until after FDR died in 1945. Visiting here was a treat. Much like Eleanor Roosevelt, the home is very unpretentious, cottage-like, very liveable, and with things replicated exactly as they were when she died in 1962. Because her father and another relative both had issues with alcoholism, Eleanor tolerated alcohol, but never enjoyed its use. The guide noted that when she hosted people for dinner, she would have a "ten minute cocktail" before dinner...literally not serving drinks until 6:50 and ushering everyone into the dining area at 7:00pm. Eleanor Roosevelt achieved some amazing feats. I think the appeal for both her and Franklin are that while both had great money and power, they both also faced tremendous obstacles (Eleanor's horrible upbringing, the death's of many loved one's, the betrayal of her husband....along with his polio). Yet, despite these obstacles (and in part because of their money), they never let these personal tragedies undermine their determination in life to do what they thought would advance the human spirit.
The real surpise at Val-Kil was that our guide was a woman who actually knew Ms. Roosevelt when she lived in Hyde Park, from the 1950s-to her death. The woman shared several interesting stories about her compassion and interest in people.
More museum activities tomorrow!
I was a long drive yesterday from Jacksonville, through D.C. through Gettysburg, P. A. to the far outskirts of suburban NYC. Two interesting notes from yesterday...the drive from Maryland up through Gettysburg was amazingly beautiful, with a nice sunset and great views off the highway. Once dusk hit, there was a bonanza of fireflies, which looked almost like fireworks going off there were so many. One oddity...July 1-3 is the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg. While driving the outskirts here today I noticed that the outlet mall had a huge Abraham Lincoln with a big "150th" beneath it....all in lights. A bit odd.
Today's activities amazed me. I visited Franklin D. Roosevelt's homeplace in Hyde Park, New York. The tour is great. The home was actually owned by his mother, who, depending upon what you read, was a shrew, a mean controlling thing....or someone who was out to see that her son was well cared for. Either way, I learned a few weird facts. Roosevelt obviously grew up with wealth, but by fourteen he had traveled to Europe seven times, and was fluent in both French and German. His father gave him a gun to shoot birds, but he had to promise not to hunt during nesting or mating season. In the Hyde Park mansion there were dozens of stuffed birds.
I have not seen the new movie with Bill Murray as FDR, but the rooms are clearly marked where the former future King and Queen of England stayed when they visited the Roosevelts in 1939. The tour guide also mentioned that while FDR gave us the famous line, "there is nothing to fear, but fear itself," he was deathly afraid of fire (after developing polio and losing the use of his legs). They showed us all sorts of ancient fire prevention devices in the house (kind of like a fire extinguisher today). The guide also provided a funny quip about why FDR used those long cigarette holders...once, when asked he replied, "my doctor told me to stay as far away from smoking as possible."
Also on today's agenda was a visit Val-Kil, the cottage/home built by Eleanor Roosevelt with two of her friends during the mid-1920s. The home was built on the Roosevelt property, and Eleanor never spent the night there until after FDR died in 1945. Visiting here was a treat. Much like Eleanor Roosevelt, the home is very unpretentious, cottage-like, very liveable, and with things replicated exactly as they were when she died in 1962. Because her father and another relative both had issues with alcoholism, Eleanor tolerated alcohol, but never enjoyed its use. The guide noted that when she hosted people for dinner, she would have a "ten minute cocktail" before dinner...literally not serving drinks until 6:50 and ushering everyone into the dining area at 7:00pm. Eleanor Roosevelt achieved some amazing feats. I think the appeal for both her and Franklin are that while both had great money and power, they both also faced tremendous obstacles (Eleanor's horrible upbringing, the death's of many loved one's, the betrayal of her husband....along with his polio). Yet, despite these obstacles (and in part because of their money), they never let these personal tragedies undermine their determination in life to do what they thought would advance the human spirit.
The real surpise at Val-Kil was that our guide was a woman who actually knew Ms. Roosevelt when she lived in Hyde Park, from the 1950s-to her death. The woman shared several interesting stories about her compassion and interest in people.
More museum activities tomorrow!
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
The Semester's End - and Other Odds and Ends
It is that time of year once again...the end of a busy semester. I don't know about for you, but this one seemed to fly by for me.
First, some humor for your week of exams.
Okay, now for a few hints of the final exam? Remember that the Final Exam will follow the EXACT same format as the midterm exam. If you are using the Course Outline that handed out on day two as your study guide (a wise move), you should start the page that begins "Washington's Presidency" and proceed from there to the end of the outline.
One student today approached me and said they were unsure of the dates we've covered and a bit confused of how we had traveled back and forth across time in the second half of this semester. Here's a quick breakdown.
Big Themes:
Politics: 1789-1830s - this took us from the ratification of the U. S. Constitution and formation of early government up through the presidency of Andrew Jackson. The point was to show how our government was both extending its power and also opening greater opportunities for equality among some people of the time.
Market Revolution: 1810s-1840s - this examined primarily the growing forces of transportation improvements, commercialization and industrialization as they transpired within the Northern, free labor states.
Antebellum South and Slavery 1830s-1860s - examined how the South developed a contrasting economy to the North, with the South remaining primarily agricultural with the growing influence of cotton production. Cotton growth also fueled the demand for labor (slaves).
Regional Splits and Civil War 1850s-1860s - we examined major issues in this decade as the free states and slave states faced increased difficulty in finding resolutions to major problems.
More Later.....
First, some humor for your week of exams.
Okay, now for a few hints of the final exam? Remember that the Final Exam will follow the EXACT same format as the midterm exam. If you are using the Course Outline that handed out on day two as your study guide (a wise move), you should start the page that begins "Washington's Presidency" and proceed from there to the end of the outline.
One student today approached me and said they were unsure of the dates we've covered and a bit confused of how we had traveled back and forth across time in the second half of this semester. Here's a quick breakdown.
Big Themes:
Politics: 1789-1830s - this took us from the ratification of the U. S. Constitution and formation of early government up through the presidency of Andrew Jackson. The point was to show how our government was both extending its power and also opening greater opportunities for equality among some people of the time.
Market Revolution: 1810s-1840s - this examined primarily the growing forces of transportation improvements, commercialization and industrialization as they transpired within the Northern, free labor states.
Antebellum South and Slavery 1830s-1860s - examined how the South developed a contrasting economy to the North, with the South remaining primarily agricultural with the growing influence of cotton production. Cotton growth also fueled the demand for labor (slaves).
Regional Splits and Civil War 1850s-1860s - we examined major issues in this decade as the free states and slave states faced increased difficulty in finding resolutions to major problems.
More Later.....
Sunday, April 21, 2013
Busy News Week - Boston Bombing
The past week was chock full of attention grabbing headlines, from the Boston bombing to poisoned letters sent to a Senator and the President, to fertilizer factory explosions in Texas, and back again to Boston and the successful manhunt for the terrorists who perpetrated the bombing.
In our class this semester we have focused a great deal on early American history, specifically the Massachusetts Bay Colony and religious issues associated with its development. While thinking about the terrorism in Boston, I was reminded that the history of colonial America spills over with violent events. While violence in the past and present differ in motivation and intention, there is no doubt still the "terror" invoked by the act.
In The Unredeemed Captive, John Demos examines the 1704 attack by a French and Native American war party on the Puritan English settlement of Deerfield, Massachusetts. While the English had been battling French and Native foes, the attack on the village was unexpected and took its toll. Demos writes "Finally: the sum of the losses sustained, the massacre's full measure...Killed, 'in town,' 39 - and in the 'meadow fight,'an additional nine soldiers....Thus the 'slaine' altogether make 48. Captured, and now bound for Canada, 112. Alive at home - that is, the survivors - 140 (including ten remaining 'garrison soldiers'" (Demos 24).
In his syndicated newspaper column this week, the "God Squad" writer, Rabbi Marc Gellman, offered a further historical and biblical interpretation of the terrorism in Boston which I thought was quite thoughtful and timely - see below.
"Remember what Amalek did unto thee by the way, when ye were come forth out ofEgypt ; How he met thee by the way, and smote the hindmost of thee, even all that were feeble behind thee, when thou wast faint and weary; and he feared not God. Therefore it shall be, when the Lord thy God hath given thee rest from all thine enemies round about, in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance to possess it, that thou shalt blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven; thou shalt not forget it."
Amalek attacked the weak ones at the rear of the march. By choosing to attack the elderly and the young, the vulnerable and slow in the rear of the great Exodus, he guaranteed that he would be able to kill the maximum number of people with the least risk to his soldiers.
After the attack by Amalek in the Bible, God commands Moses, "Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven...the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation." (Exodus 17:14,16).
The enemy we must never forget is also the enemy of God in every generation. Amalek is more than a man; he is a symbol, a symbol of terrorism, or radical evil in every generation where the Messiah has still not come or come again. Amalek was the first terrorist and on Monday, Amalek visitedBoston .
As I sat transfixed, sorrowful and angry before the television screen bringing me no news but revelatory images, one image caught my eye, as I'm sure it did yours. It was the picture of the first moments after the first explosion and it showed an older runner going wobbly kneed and collapsing in the street. In a brief report inThe New Republic , Marc Tracy wrote of him:
"...the runner in what is quickly becoming the iconic photo, who is being aided by police after being knocked to the ground by the explosion, looks to be older. He is somebody who likely took around five hours to complete the race. He is a civilian not only in the political sense, but in the athletic sense. In other words, it seems likely that whoever was responsible for the explosions--assuming somebody was responsible--was deliberately targeting ordinary decent folk rather than the superstars. And, whatever message they were intended to convey, the explosions created the impression that being ordinary is no protection against extraordinary horror. That feeling is the definition of being terrorized."
I think I know the message the killer or killers were intending to convey: Amalek is not dead. I also know the message we must send back to Amalek: We will not forget you! Our deceptively calm and terror-free existence since 9/11 has not seduced us into forgetting you.
Our memory of your tactics in seeking out the old runners will not terrorize us into stopping the race and hiding in our houses. Our public places and our public celebrations will not end because of what happened inBoston . Our war against domestic or international terrorism will not end, and more than all that, God's war against all who target the slower, the weaker, the poorer, the most vulnerable, will also never end.
We do not yet know the name you chose inBoston , nor your twisted and bloody cause, but we know your generational name, your biblical name. You are Amalek and you are the enemy of God because you are the enemy of freedom.
An old rabbinic legend teaches that the reason God led the people in the Exodus with "a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night" was not to show the people the right direction, but rather to show them the right speed. The march out of the house of bondage was to proceed only at the speed of the slowest person in the march. That way, the strong did not get too far ahead of the weak. That way, the strong did not lose touch with the weak.
The war against Amalek is a slow war, but it is a war we're not fighting alone. We are together, and we are being led through falling and blood, through dust and despair to freedom.
May God comfort the souls of the victims of Amalek inBoston and around the world, and may God comfort all of us. Amen.
(Send QUESTIONS ONLY to The God Squad via email at godsquadquestion@aol.com.)
(c) 2013 THE GOD SQUAD DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.
In our class this semester we have focused a great deal on early American history, specifically the Massachusetts Bay Colony and religious issues associated with its development. While thinking about the terrorism in Boston, I was reminded that the history of colonial America spills over with violent events. While violence in the past and present differ in motivation and intention, there is no doubt still the "terror" invoked by the act.
In The Unredeemed Captive, John Demos examines the 1704 attack by a French and Native American war party on the Puritan English settlement of Deerfield, Massachusetts. While the English had been battling French and Native foes, the attack on the village was unexpected and took its toll. Demos writes "Finally: the sum of the losses sustained, the massacre's full measure...Killed, 'in town,' 39 - and in the 'meadow fight,'an additional nine soldiers....Thus the 'slaine' altogether make 48. Captured, and now bound for Canada, 112. Alive at home - that is, the survivors - 140 (including ten remaining 'garrison soldiers'" (Demos 24).
In his syndicated newspaper column this week, the "God Squad" writer, Rabbi Marc Gellman, offered a further historical and biblical interpretation of the terrorism in Boston which I thought was quite thoughtful and timely - see below.
The Bible and Boston
Only once in the Bible does God command us to remember one of our enemies. His name was Amalek. In Deuteronomy 25:17-19 (KJV) we read:"Remember what Amalek did unto thee by the way, when ye were come forth out of
Amalek attacked the weak ones at the rear of the march. By choosing to attack the elderly and the young, the vulnerable and slow in the rear of the great Exodus, he guaranteed that he would be able to kill the maximum number of people with the least risk to his soldiers.
After the attack by Amalek in the Bible, God commands Moses, "Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven...the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation." (Exodus 17:14,16).
The enemy we must never forget is also the enemy of God in every generation. Amalek is more than a man; he is a symbol, a symbol of terrorism, or radical evil in every generation where the Messiah has still not come or come again. Amalek was the first terrorist and on Monday, Amalek visited
As I sat transfixed, sorrowful and angry before the television screen bringing me no news but revelatory images, one image caught my eye, as I'm sure it did yours. It was the picture of the first moments after the first explosion and it showed an older runner going wobbly kneed and collapsing in the street. In a brief report in
"...the runner in what is quickly becoming the iconic photo, who is being aided by police after being knocked to the ground by the explosion, looks to be older. He is somebody who likely took around five hours to complete the race. He is a civilian not only in the political sense, but in the athletic sense. In other words, it seems likely that whoever was responsible for the explosions--assuming somebody was responsible--was deliberately targeting ordinary decent folk rather than the superstars. And, whatever message they were intended to convey, the explosions created the impression that being ordinary is no protection against extraordinary horror. That feeling is the definition of being terrorized."
I think I know the message the killer or killers were intending to convey: Amalek is not dead. I also know the message we must send back to Amalek: We will not forget you! Our deceptively calm and terror-free existence since 9/11 has not seduced us into forgetting you.
Our memory of your tactics in seeking out the old runners will not terrorize us into stopping the race and hiding in our houses. Our public places and our public celebrations will not end because of what happened in
We do not yet know the name you chose in
An old rabbinic legend teaches that the reason God led the people in the Exodus with "a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night" was not to show the people the right direction, but rather to show them the right speed. The march out of the house of bondage was to proceed only at the speed of the slowest person in the march. That way, the strong did not get too far ahead of the weak. That way, the strong did not lose touch with the weak.
The war against Amalek is a slow war, but it is a war we're not fighting alone. We are together, and we are being led through falling and blood, through dust and despair to freedom.
May God comfort the souls of the victims of Amalek in
(Send QUESTIONS ONLY to The God Squad via email at godsquadquestion@aol.com.)
(c) 2013 THE GOD SQUAD DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.
Monday, April 8, 2013
"Feeling" versus "Thinking"
If you read the news today you heard that Margaret Thatcher, the former Prime Minister of Great Britain, has died. On the way home from work, there was a clip on NPR about one of her quotes, done by Meryl Streep in the movie, Iron Lady.
The quote, in many ways broadens what I wrote on many of your earlier essays. When you write you "think" instead of "feel." Watch the clip below from Youtube.
The quote, in many ways broadens what I wrote on many of your earlier essays. When you write you "think" instead of "feel." Watch the clip below from Youtube.
Sunday, March 24, 2013
Getting All Political On You
I do not reveal my political biases to my students, but the upshot is I agree with about 25% of each political party (Republicans and/or Democrats), so I find my own viewpoints left out about 75% of the time. Nevertheless, here are a few postings to get you thinking about current economic life in the United States and educational upheaval in North Carolina.
First with jobs. Remember in good ol' 2008 when JOBS! JOBS! JOBS! was all the cry of elected politicians? Please visit this site on unemployment in North Carolina (county by county) at the WRAL unemployment map. http://www.wral.com/news/state/page/4879060/ You can search unemployment data month by month over the last four years or so. Where is the progress? Beats me!
Two interesting articles below. Note that they are about a year apart, almost to the day.
http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials/071912-618874-what-happened-to-obamas-laser-focus-on-jobs-.htm
http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials/011813-641311-president-obama-unemployment-jobless-jobs-policies.htm
Secondly, what about public school teachers in North Carolina? Read this article about Diane Ravitch's recent visit to North Carolina. Ravitch is interesting because she transcends tired political ideology. She used to be more conservative, now she has become more liberal. She researches and writes policy for public education. She is someone who is willing to be malleable with her thoughts and when she ticks off everyone, she's probably doing something right!
http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/03/23/2774218/ravitch-backs-nc-teachers-targeted.html#storylink=omni_popular#wgt=pop
First with jobs. Remember in good ol' 2008 when JOBS! JOBS! JOBS! was all the cry of elected politicians? Please visit this site on unemployment in North Carolina (county by county) at the WRAL unemployment map. http://www.wral.com/news/state/page/4879060/ You can search unemployment data month by month over the last four years or so. Where is the progress? Beats me!
Two interesting articles below. Note that they are about a year apart, almost to the day.
http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials/071912-618874-what-happened-to-obamas-laser-focus-on-jobs-.htm
http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials/011813-641311-president-obama-unemployment-jobless-jobs-policies.htm
Secondly, what about public school teachers in North Carolina? Read this article about Diane Ravitch's recent visit to North Carolina. Ravitch is interesting because she transcends tired political ideology. She used to be more conservative, now she has become more liberal. She researches and writes policy for public education. She is someone who is willing to be malleable with her thoughts and when she ticks off everyone, she's probably doing something right!
http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/03/23/2774218/ravitch-backs-nc-teachers-targeted.html#storylink=omni_popular#wgt=pop
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