Suddenly striking me that I probably had an anomalous public school experience in that my district, the third-biggest in the state (after Philadelphia and Pittsburgh), obvious economic engine developing the “favored quarter” outside Philly, could pay enough to recruit teachers in from wherever and hold high standards confident that vacancies can be filled

Whereas the traditional cohort was “the reasonably with-it locals who aren’t class-qualified to go to university and join the officer class so they go to normal school and become NCOs”, the reasonability of “with-it” reflexing with the hires available

And I guess the new standard is “that minus the ones with-it enough to settle elsewhere after teaching school or get recruited away for more pay”.