It's Too Darn Hot

The weekend Wall Street Journal ran a feature article on "white flight" from public schools. However, unlike the Sixties when middle-class whites fled the inner city to protect their kids from a deteriorating educational system, now they're running away from suburban schools where an influx of Asian immigrants has raised academic competitiveness to the point where the children of long-time residents cannot compete, or at least don't think they can.

Whites aren't quitting the schools because the schools are failing academically. Quite the contrary: Many white parents say they're leaving because the schools are too academically driven and too narrowly invested in subjects such as math and science at the expense of liberal arts and extracurriculars like sports and other personal interests.

The two schools [Monte Vista and Lynnbrook of Cupertino, California], put another way that parents rarely articulate so bluntly, are too Asian.

The article (link requires registration) is rife with irony. A white kid utters words familiar to generations of striving minorities:

"My parents never let me think that because I'm Caucasian, I'm not going to succeed," says Jessie Hogin, a white Monta Vista graduate.

As with many stereotypes, there's an element of truth to the image of the Asian grind, just as there was with the brilliance of the Jewish students who were at the top of every class when I was going to college. We and our children have to decide whether it's better to be a B student in the toughest school or have a good chance at getting A's in one that's less competitive. In which environment will our student thrive? There's no one right answer.

This video has been making the rounds for weeks: two guys from China are singlehandedly overturning the quiet, studious Asian stereotype.