"We have to break through our kind of private idea that kids belong to their parents..."

I don't even know what to say to this.  In a new ad from MSNBC, Melissa Harris-Perry explains her view of parenthood.  It says a lot about the network's relationship with reality that no one apparently thought this would be controversial.  Leaving aside the warped, insane idea that children belong to their community rather than their parents, and what that really means, let's just examine her contention that we don't invest enough in public education.  According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the United States spent, on all levels of public education, $15,812 per student in 2009.  That's the highest in the world.  State and local governments spent $859.9 billion on public education in 2010, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That’s a 30.1 percent increase from $660.5 billion (adjusted for inflation) that the U.S. spent in 2000.

So if we followed Ms. Harris-Perry's advice and took a more collective view of children, we would... spend even more money?  Sorry -- "investments."  And that would make our schools better?  What could she possibly point to as evidence of this?  Parents understand perfectly well the community's role in the life of their children.  They live it everyday through their churches, schools, neighborhoods and civic organizations.  They don't need academics and government bureaucrats lecturing them from on high.