School Cleanup and Used Bookstores.

Busy day at the DCPS school cleanup. True to form, no one from DCPS actually showed up. They were supposed to come by with liability waivers and trash pickup. It never happened. However, about a dozen of us had a great time moving dirt and washing the playground equipment. Tomorrow is opening day for children throughout the DC system and let's hope this year is safer than last year. There's no reason a child should fear for his or her safety while at school. Here or anywhere else.

And to coincide with opening day, the Post ran an article on Superintendant Janey's progress. I pulled this choice tidbit out, although it's not really a reflection on Janey so much as a comment on the failure of DCPS to attend to its business:

And despite recent progress on maintenance and repairs, the physical plants of many schools still border on Third World conditions.

Nice.

In other news, I had an opportunity this weekend to browse some used book shops. While Second Story is among the best (at least the best I know about) as far as general selection and organization, it's somewhat sterile. Idle Times, my neighborhood shop, is pretty damn good and pretty organized these days. But my favorite for just over the top jammed in books and deep selections in Left theory is Kultura. Their organization is...well, it's just not. But by far it's more welcoming than any of the others and contains more gems. I left empty-handed, but my son did score a Magic School Bus book and my wife picked up some stuff. I'm looking for a copy of Jamie's Dinners, but haven't mustered the cash for a new copy.