In her new cookbook, The Family Dinner, Laurie David talks about the importance of families making a ritual of sitting down to dinner together, and how family dinners offer a great opportunity for meaningful discussions about the day's news. "Dinner," she says, "is as much about digestible conversation as it is about delicious food."
We couldn't agree more. So HuffPost has joined with Laurie to launch a new feature we're calling HuffPost Family Dinner Downloads. Every Friday afternoon, just in time for dinner, our editors highlight one of the most compelling news stories of the week -- stories that will spark a lively discussion among the whole family.
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The recent months have been fairly eventful in the battle to reform our broken public education system. Cathie Black recently stepped down as New York City Schools Chancellor after a mere few months in the role, which followed Michelle Rhee's exit after three controversial years as the head of DC's public schools.
Aside from prominent leadership shuffles, schools across the country face both financial and academic crises -- massive budget shortfalls, sagging test scores and nearly a quarter of American students falling short of finishing high school.
Education reformers recommend all sorts of fixes for our education system, but a recent op-ed in the New York Times actually recommended "rethink[ing] the very nature of high school" altogether, and letting students truly author their own educations.
What three things would you do to improve schools if you were made the boss of your school district? Do you think your education is preparing you for the real world? What do you wish you were learning or doing in school that you're not? What's the most valuable part of school for you? What's the most fun?
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To see last week's Family Dinner Download, click here.
Subscribe to receive HuffPost Family Dinner Downloads by email every Friday afternoon.
For more tips and recipes, check out The Family Dinner: Great Ways to Connect with Your Kids, One Meal at a Time by Laurie David and Kirstin Uhrenholdt (thefamilydinnerbook.com).