The Obama folks are making a big deal about the possibility that 82 percent of schools could be rated as failing this spring -- a number that is unverified, likely exaggerated, and -- most important -- meaningless to the schools that are being rated. Folks who would know -- CEP's Jack Jennings and DFER's Charlie Barone -- called bull*** in the Washington Post (Most schools could face 'failing' label under No Child Left Behind, Duncan says). Barone called it a "Chicken Little" statistic. Even if the number is right, it's not the rating used to pick schools for
