On her new blog, Julia Stiles weighs in on the city's schools

About that blog that says it’s written by Joel Klein e-mail confidante and actress Julia Stiles: It is.

Stiles’ agent, Toni Howard, just confirmed for me that the blog, You Know My Steez, is in fact the actress’s own. So far, the star of “Save the Last Dance” and “The Bourne Ultimatum” has written three posts, one a link to a short film she directed and two about the city schools, which she attended until middle school.

As New York Magazine originally reported, Stiles gave Klein her e-mail address after she interrupted his comments at a private party with stories from her own experience in the city’s schools, and the two exchanged a few messages. On her blog, Stiles reveals the contents of their dialogue:

I was nothing short of surprised when I discovered a message from him in my inbox the next morning, especially considering my handwriting is entirely illegible (not the fault of public education, by the by). I sat at my computer, regretful that I had not brought a muzzle to the dinner, when lo and behold, Joel Klein had contacted me. So I responded and we started a short dialogue about how charter schools are good, and I mentioned one in particular that I visited where the teachers were enthusiastic and energetic. He agreed that the schools need better materials and equipment (like the beaker I never saw in the science class that didn’t exist). He reminded me that the Bloomberg administration has invested $8 billion in education, while trying to cut wasteful bureaucratic spending (okay, checkmate). And he finished by saying, “Keep in touch from time to time. I like your fire.”