Laura Meckler and I were on the Shaker Heights High School debate team together when I was a senior and she was a sophomore. Some forty years later, in just the past month, Laura has published a book about race relations in Shaker Heights called Dream Town, and has also written a widely-shared article about homeschooling centers for the Washington Post. It’s been a full month of “This-is-my-life” by Laura!

From the first chapter of Dream Town, I knew someone or someplace in every chapter of the book. Laura grew up in the same neighborhood as I did (where my parents still live!), and we attended the same Sussex elementary school with overlapping teachers, friends, and neighbors. One of the chapters is centered on my close friend, Emily Hooper, and I am actually quoted in that chapter about our work together to create a program called The Student Group on Race Relations. In other chapters, Laura describes some of the major public conflicts involving racial issues in the Shaker schools, and my family is connected to many of the protagonists.

Personally, I admire Laura’s courage and directness in publicly writing about some extremely divisive incidents. I haven’t spoken with others yet who have read the book, but my private reaction is that Laura has reported things clearly and fairly while offering her own analysis and opinions. Few people want to make themselves so vulnerable in Shaker Heights. Laura, who is white, acknowledges that other people may have different takes on some of the incidents.

I don’t want to re-hash Laura’s book: for those familiar and/or interested I believe it is compelling reading. I can’t really separate my own reading experience, so deeply personal, with an independent assessment. It’s a fascinating historical story. For what it’s worth, The Student Group on Race Relations still exists and will be holding its 40th Reunion in October. I’ll be attending, and I will write more on that group at that time.

It’s coincidental that as a journalist, Laura is also covering the growth in the post-pandemic homeschooling world. She recently wrote an article for the Washington Post about the rise in micro-schools, homeschooling coops, and private networks such as Prenda and Kaipod. Laura connects this growth to the movement for Education Savings Accounts that I have been following and writing about in 2023. She raises important questions, and in her analytical manner, does not jump on any bandwagon. Laura told me she didn’t include North Star in her article because she was focusing on the newly emerging programs serving the post-pandemic rise in homeschooling. When she wants the “historical perspective,” I’ll be ready.

Of course, I want to take a stab at synthesizing these two topics.

The story of Dream Town is largely focused on the role of the Shaker Heights Public Schools in promoting racial integration. I started my professional career sharing this focus for a decade, but I left public schooling to create North Star. Given my professional career shift, I read Laura’s book with a bit of detachment. I no longer aspire to make public schools the community solution as Shaker Heights does, or as I once did. I wonder, as an imaginary exercise, what would happen in Shaker if homeschooling and North Star-type programs became the norm. Would that increase racial polarization? Would it allow for less stressful environments that could focus on other priorities? If school were not compulsory, and the public school system offered a range of voluntary programs, what might that look like? My idealistic side embraces the possibilities; my cynical side fears an increase in race and class separatism. My immediate gut reaction, though, is that the tension Laura describes within the public schools confirms my personal decision to chart a different path back in 1996. I’d like to see more community-based solutions based on out-of-school activities for youth, and while I’m at it, for their parents. Much of the brightness in Dream Town is the story of adults extending themselves in cross-racial friendships and partnerships.

Laura Meckler’s book is receiving national media attention, and her ongoing journalism is widely read. I feel deeply connected to her work, and I Iook forward to seeing what she does next.