Or just didn't have a family with the right media instincts.

> "Public school bureaucracy run by bureaucrats" doesn't have the right mass appeal.

It has incredible mass appeal, which is frequently exploited politically -- by both sides of the political spectrum.

But for it to get media attention, someone's got to get it to the media's attention. Outside of people and institutions that are already high-probability news sources, the media isn't really actively monitoring what goes on to find potential stories, things become stories because someone involved brings it to the attention of the media.

iamdave: picked up from school by his dad, no police involved.

Not exactly the same situations. Both crappy situations, but Ahmed's treatment was an order of magnitude more inappropriate.

We're brown, I think colloquially "black".