Obviously your reading comprehension is poor. Where have I said that I am against writing? What I have said, however, is that those who wish to write well should also have a firm grasp of the subject in question. As for Columbia University's School of Journalism, you have missed my point – as well as those echoed by others like noted science writer Carl Zimmer – that quality journalism, especially in the sciences and environmental issues, is suffering from a precipitous decline (which you can read about in Chris Mooney and Sheril Kirshenbaum's “Unscientific America: How Scientific Illiteracy Threatens Our Future”). A McCourt High School will have substantially less resources than high schools like Stuyvesant, Bronx Science, Townsend Harris, Brooklyn Tech, Beacon, or Hunter College High because of both its relatively small size and its reliance on antiquated facilities in the Brandeis High School building. It makes ample sense to conclude that such a school will not offer as rewarding an educational experience to its students as those I have just cited (For example, back in 1996, I discovered, much to my amazement, that Stuyvesant High School had superior photography facilities than what I had seen at a prominent undergraduate fine art photography program at the University of Arizona, which I had thought did have state-of-the-art studio and darkroom facilities.).

Obviously your reading comprehension is poor. Where have I said that I am against writing? What I have said, however, is that those who wish to write well should also have a firm grasp of the subject in question. As for Columbia University's School of Journalism, you have missed my point – as well as those echoed by others like noted science writer Carl Zimmer – that quality journalism, especially in the sciences and environmental issues, is suffering from a precipitous decline (which you can read about in Chris Mooney and Sheril Kirshenbaum's “Unscientific America: How Scientific Illiteracy Threatens Our Future”). A McCourt High School will have substantially less resources than high schools like Stuyvesant, Bronx Science, Townsend Harris, Brooklyn Tech, Beacon, or Hunter College High because of both its relatively small size and its reliance on antiquated facilities in the Brandeis High School building. It makes ample sense to conclude that such a school will not offer as rewarding an educational experience to its students as those I have just cited (For example, back in 1996, I discovered, much to my amazement, that Stuyvesant High School had superior photography facilities than what I had seen at a prominent undergraduate fine art photography program at the University of Arizona, which I had thought did have state-of-the-art studio and darkroom facilities.).

http://ow.ly/vhIg

The only eight grader I am aware of who wrote compulsively (at least that's what I'm told) was Matt Ruff (incidentally a fellow alumnus of publisher Tom Allon's alma mater, Cornell University), who wrote unpublished science fiction novels at Stuyvesant High School, even as a student of McCourt's. However, he didn't really “emerge” as a writer until he studied with Cornell University English and writing professor Alison Lurie, which led to his first novel, “Fool on the Hill”, published a year after he had graduated from Cornell University and still regarded as a cult classic by his fellow Cornell alumni and by many fantasy and science fiction fans. I've been acquainted with Ruff's work since 1990 and regard him, along with Gary Shteyngart (who did not study with McCourt to the best of my knowledge), as the two most notable literary alumni of Stuyvesant High School since 1970.

And then there is the issue as to whether such an 8th grader would receive a first-class education at the McCourt High School or rather, instead, at schools like Stuyvesant High School and Townshend Harris High School. I would say the latter, and in Stuyvesant's case, it is because of excellent facilities not only in the sciences, mathematics and technology, but also, for example, in English (which ironically is regarded now as the school's best department) and photography (when I visited it for the first time back in 1996, I was stunned to see that Stuyvesant's photography facilities were substantially better than that of one of the country's best college programs in fine art photography at the University of Arizona). In Townshend Harris High School's case, it is based on the campus of Queens College of CUNY, and has access to much – if not all – of the college's own resources.

While naming the McCourt High School for Frank McCourt is a noble gesture, I strongly doubt that it will succeed in its objective of being a premier high school devoted to writing, journalism and literature.

Respectfully yours,

John Kwok

In the real world, the best journalists are fundamentally utility players, with a broad portfolio of knowledge. In fact, outlets like the New York Times rotate reporters in and out of Iraq not necessarily on the basis of deep knowledge of the area, but rather general reporting skill and desire.

Put simply, if an 8th-grader wants to write, let him write.