Why is this blog called “The Caisson,” and how do you pronounce it?
There are two definitions for ‘caisson.’ One is a “2-wheeled vehicle for artillery ammunition attachable to a horse-drawn limber” (you may know the ‘unofficial US Army song, “The Caissons Go Rolling Along). The other definition is a “watertight chamber used in bridge building to build the tower foundation” (I don’t know of any songs about bridge construction, sorry).
Brooklyn Bridge Caisson
I named this blog The Caisson (pronounced “Case On”) because it is intended to be the chamber within which we will build the foundation of a bridge that will cross some of the divisions in public education.
Whatever emerges from this blog will connect the city. At its best, it will bridge the achievement gap, and bridge the many rifts that divide us: race, class, neighborhoods, ‘born & raised’ vs. newcomers, ‘ed reformers’ vs. people who want to ‘save our schools’, but, perhaps most importantly, it will help launch something – a school, an organization, something – that will be a bridge to the future for hundreds of New Orleanians.
I suppose the first caisson definition could be an interpretation for the contents of this blog, it just depends what, or who, we are fighting.
