Why You--Yes, You, Suburban Business Person/Parent/Professional--Should Care About Lousy Urban Schools

Via DCedblog, WaPo business columnist Steven Pearlstein makes a very strong case for why affluent and middle-class Washington-area suburbanites should care about the dismal performance of the D.C. and PG County Public Schools. Money quote:

Put another way, if the Washington area economy is going to continue to grow, much of the growth will have to be in the District and Prince George's County, which won't happen as long as the schools are inadequate.

This isn't just true locally: You could make the same case for why affluent and middle class Americans and American business nationally must care more about the fate of kids in our troubled urban schools. Our depressed urban areas and inner cities are the frontier of development and economic growth in this country, and as the housing market slows down it's increasingly clear that gentrification and new condo developments aren't a long term strategy for lifting the fortunes of our cities. Doing a better job of educating the kids in disadvantaged communities is the best way we can build the supply of quality human capital needed to power our nation's economy into the next generation and through the massive economic challenges facing us in the next several decades as the baby boomers retire.

Pearlstein's also got some pretty sound commentary on Mayor Fenty's proposal to takeover the DC public schools.