I watched the third presidential debate tonight. Actually, I watched it twice--once live and once on PBS. There are dozens of issues I could raise, such as McCain calling people who support choice "pro-abortion," or Obama's failed and repeated attempts to equate McCain and Bush, which I find really irritating. But the thing that struck me the most was actually the discussion of education.
I was finally able to put my finger on what bothers me about McCain's position of "school choice." His entire education policy is based on giving parents a choice in where to send their children. What he doesn't say is that his competition-based model for education is based on the assumption that somehow
everyone will be able to put their kids in the "good" schools through vouchers. But what happens to the bad schools? And how can the good schools meet the demand, even just in terms of logistics, especially given that class size is a crucial element in improving student performance? It's a Lake Wobegon approach to education, in which all the schools are somehow going to be above average, and in my view it's totally unrealistic.
Oh, and here's the really important part. This is what I was knitting during the debate:
It's the free scarf pattern "Japanske bølger" that a Danish raveler published. I decided to use the wildly popular Japanese yarn, Noro Kureyon sock yarn, which I got for $11 (using a 40% off coupon to bring down the price). People rave on and on about it, but I actually pretty much hate the yarn. It's single ply, so it gets all twisted, and it is exceptionally scratchy. The thickness varies from sewing thread to worsted weight yarn, which to me just seems sloppy, even though I know it's on purpose. The variegation in colors also includes a bright electric blue, but I've been taking it out as I go along as I wanted a more subdued scarf. So now you know!
