Reporter's Notebook: From observer to the hot seat

By Joe Piasecki,
Pasadena Sun

With tensions boiling over at Pasadena Board of Education meetings and a coach’s scuffle with a student at John Muir High School generating headlines, I wasn’t so sure that touring Marshall Fundamental School as honorary Principal for a Day on Nov. 8 was the best use of my news-gathering time.

I was wrong.

Witnessing a typical day at Marshall — students learning, teachers teaching and extracurricular activities in full swing — served as a valuable reminder that rumors of the demise of public education have been greatly exaggerated.

It’s a message worth sharing.

More at the Pasadena Sun.