While better teachers would help, I think things would improve if the students had a reason to work hard in school and had something to aspire to more than standing on the corner. While mayors can’t make cultural change, they do have a bully pulpit to use.

OLPC discussion states that they haven’t really guaranteed anything to Birmingham, yet. They’ve merely stated thus far that Birmingham would be considered. It could work out in the end, but either way, I’m a bit hesitant to give laptops to a group of people who can’t even be expected to return textbooks at the end of each year. If Langford’s truly interested in improving the quality of education, I’d recommend starting with attracting better teachers to the district. You only have to look at some of bulletin boards and blogs to know that spell check and grammar check are no substitute for flesh and blood.

So are you saying that if there’s a behavior we don’t like, another politician should model that? Percentage-wise, when you consider the revenue and budget that Birmingham has, Langford is well on his way to leaving George W. in his dust.