LAURA AND LARRY….From an LA Times profile of Laura Bush today:
“Well, I taught 2nd, 3rd and 4th grade, so I taught really every subject, but reading was my favorite….I was not a very good math teacher and I think that’s kind of a problem in elementary schools. A lot of ? especially women teachers ? are great in language arts and not so great in math.”
En route to Washington, Bush clarified her remark. “That is a stereotype,” she said, “but I think that actually is also proven.”
Larry Summers, your office is calling.
POSTSCRIPT: I can’t resist excerpting the rest of the paragraph, especially since I don’t know if this article is available to nonsubscribers:
She also said that her daughter, Barbara, a Yale graduate, is a “math whiz.” “I don’t know where she got it,” said Bush, who is married to a Harvard MBA. “I guess she got it from her dad.”
Really? Here’s Barbara’s dad on February 4:
Because the ? all which is on the table begins to address the big cost drivers. For example, how benefits are calculate, for example, is on the table; whether or not benefits rise based upon wage increases or price increases. There’s a series of parts of the formula that are being considered. And when you couple that, those different cost drivers, affecting those ? changing those with personal accounts, the idea is to get what has been promised more likely to be?or closer delivered to what has been promised. Does that make any sense to you? It’s kind of muddled. Look, there’s a series of things that cause the ? like, for example, benefits are calculated based upon the increase of wages, as opposed to the increase of prices. Some have suggested that we calculate ? the benefits will rise based upon inflation, as opposed to wage increases. There is a reform that would help solve the red if that were put into effect. In other words, how fast benefits grow, how fast the promised benefits grow, if those ? if that growth is affected, it will help on the red.
I think Laura is being too modest.
