EDUCATION FIX

   Michelle Rhee, Chancellor of the D.C Public School system talked about having lunch one day with Warren Buffett.  She asked him for advice and he told her that the way to fix the D.C school system was to make all private schools illegal and to reassign the students, based on a lottery, to all the public schools in the district.  That would immediately shift all the financial resources around so that every school would get a fair share and the education would improve dramatically.  
   I understand that principal very well.  During the Civil Rights movement in the '60s, at a benefit on Long Island, I was asked to drive Ruby Dee  to New Rochelle where we both lived.  We discussed education during that drive.  Although in agreement about the overall need, when I  suggested that,  if we were able to integrate the schools there would be a period of adjustment. It would be necessary to recognize the theory of the "least common denominator", that is:  the overall quality of education at a school would take a temporary setback while those who had  poor education for so long caught up with those who had had better education opportunities.  I was all for integration but thought it would cause a lot of political problems. She didn't say anything but I felt that although she probably thought what I said was correct it was a hurt for her. 
   Unfortunately, until we understand that, no one is going to like the correctness of  Buffett's answer.