Good for politics and good for cities

Former Milwaukee Mayor John Norquist wrote thoughtfully about school choice in his The Wealth of Cities: Revitalizing the Centers of American Life.

He repeats some of this in today's WSJ ("School Choice and Urban Diversity ... Many more middle-class parents would live in big cities if they could pick the public schools their kids attend.")  I get the impression that Norquist would be agreeable to removing "public" from the quote.

Many have wondered how those on the left square their concerns for poor people with their support of the education establishment's opposition to school choice.  This is why it is so nice to see that it is possible for someone with real political as well as Democratic party cred to break out of that logjam.  It suggests the possibility of progress for U.S. politics as well as for American cities.