In the summer of 2003 I moved with my family from Michigan to Hamilton. For me it was a homecoming. After 18 years away from my hometown, seven in the U.S., it seemed like the right time. The political climate post 9/11 was noticeably tense, so my ex-wife jumped at a career enhancing opportunity and we left.
One of the advantages, or so I thought, was leaving behind a fraught public education environment. My kids were enrolled in the local public school. They were managing just fine, but it was not easy to avoid getting drawn into conversations with neighbours, family and co-workers, sometimes heated, over political positions affecting education. Where did I stand, I was sometimes asked, on charter schools, millage rates, parental choice or standardized tests.