In this morning’s New York Times, David Brooks writes about “suffering fools gladly,” noting that politeness and manners “end up shaping the people we are within.” Brooks suggests that civility is an important aspect of a strong civil society—a point that was not lost on George Washington, for example, who made a point to conform himself to his “Rules of Civility and Decent Behaviour in Company.”

As we continue to explore the broad range of approaches that different charter schools bring to preparing students to become engaged citizens and active learners, we thought David Brooks’s recent column in the New York Times on the need for public schools to move away from a one-size-fits-all approach to be pertinent.

In today’s New York Times, David Brooks takes a look at how the monuments we build reflect our national character–and how, given the disappointment of recent monuments (e.g., the World War II, FDR, MLK Jr., and the proposed Eisenhower Memorial), more thought about that leadership would be a good thing.