[jyl]

Just a random thought on our local public schools. Our daughter started public high school this year. She loves it. Tonight we're visiting an arts magnet middle school that we are considering for my son. It looks great, we might pull him from the private school to come here if he gets in. They've been private school educated since kindergarten. Private school has been a great experience, but I'm liking the public school exposure we've had so far.

We are lucky in Portland. Some of our public schools are pretty good, not that they don't have problems and that others dont have even more problems.

One thing we've liked so far is that my daughter is meeting a diverse group of kids, not just kids of parents who can afford private school. So far, she's getting an excellent education in the subjects that matter most to me - math, science, Chinese, and French. Her other classes are iffy-er, but as I keep telling her - learning to get the most out of imperfect situations is a major skill. In life, people aren't always going to coddle you like a valuable tuition-paying private school student.

Just a random thought as I sit in the orientation session. Multitasking.