Finally, Real Progress in Education:

Today's New York Times reports on some real progress in education. Karen Cullotta quotes one parent as stating, "'My daughter is learning that the teacher is not responsible for her learning. [She] knows that she is responsible for her own success'."

The story is about a movement in the Midwest to bring children into the parent-teacher conference, instead of leaving them at home. Sounds like the right idea, and a rarity in education where the professionals have tried to make education all about themselves for the past few decades.

The Good News and the Bad:

No one knows what's going to happen to book publishing. The signs are both good and bad. Oprah can create a best seller with her TV show, and the Internet is wreaking havoc with the book selling business. Houghton Mifflin, long considered America's leading publisher, has chosen not to accept any new manuscripts from new writers. David Streitfeld addresses the dilima in today's New York Times. To date, no one has spotted the light at the end of this tunnel.