In Sunday's New York Times, Bob Herbert ranted about Cathy Black, the new schools chancellor for New York City. Black is fabulously wealthy — Park Avenue penthouse, $4 million home in Southampton, fancy jewelry, and she's been brought in to manage the school system of New York, which primarily serves poor and working-class children. Herbert was ticked off that American aristocrats are running our governments and cashing huge bonuses, while the rest of America is unemployed and under-water.

I am ticked off by another tidbit in Herbert's column. He mentioned that Black sent her own kids to private boarding schools. She's not the only one. Half of the politicians in DC send their kids to private schools.

Many are annoyed that Black, who lacks any classroom experience, is running the school system in New York. I'm more annoyed that she lacks experience as a parent in a public school system. If you haven't attended a PTA meeting, struggled to get a proper writing program in your schools, convinced your elderly neighbor that they should vote for the town school budget, or attended an IEP meeting, then you don't have the chops to run a school. You lack vital experience. If you believe that public education is a fine thing, but not for your child, then you aren't going to work hard enough to improve the system.