Link to Atlantic article.

Quoting the article:

Anderson would be the last person to gloss over the severe problems of the urban poor, but in The Wire he sees “a bottom-line cynicism” that is at odds with his own perception of real life. “The show is very good,” he says. “It resonates. It is powerful in its depiction of the codes of the streets, but it is an exaggeration. I get frustrated watching it, because it gives such a powerful appearance of reality, but it always seems to leave something important out. What they have left out are the decent people. Even in the worst drug-infested projects, there are many, many God-fearing, churchgoing, brave people who set themselves against the gangs and the addicts, often with remarkable heroism.”

Hmmm. Not quite sure what Professor Anderson is saying here or whether we’re watching the same show. Those individuals are ably and amply represented throughout the show, from Randi’s step-mother to the recurring Steve Earle character; none of these characters are pure but they shouldn’t be. Furthermore, the good intentions of various characters, some of whom have “set themselves against the gangs and the addicts,” often misfire when the dysfunction of urban institutions leaves individuals helpless before neighborhood decay.

The Slate article from the beginning of the fourth season.

Article about a project in NYC that attempts to measure the impact of teachers in the classroom.

Clearly resisted by most parties, I was struck by the declaration of one of the NYC officials:

“If the only thing we do is make this data available to every person in the city — every teacher, every parent, every principal, and say do with it what you will — that will have been a powerful step forward,” said Chris Cerf, the deputy schools chancellor who is overseeing the project. “If you know as a parent what’s the deal, I think that whole aspect will change behavior.”

Are we going to publish the rates of new teachers who quit? Of poverty within a given school? Of principal turnover?

This data without context — how it will undoubtedly be taken regardless of how its presented — will be utterly irrelevant.