When Bad Ideas Happen to Good Columnists
by Robert PondiscioApril 18th, 2011
The prolific Larry Ferlazzo, arguably the most thoughtful and consistently fair-minded teacher-blogger currently drawing breath, makes an interesting observation about education journalism. “I really am surprised to see so many ordinarily thoughtful national columnists, show such poor judgment when they write about schools, Larry writes.” He points to recent entries by David Brooks, Ruben Navarrete and Matthew Yglesias.
“What is it that blinds these columnists? In fact, what is it that does the same to so many school reformers and legislators? Do they think that since they went to school when they were children, that makes them experts in figuring out how they should be run? They all have gone to see a doctor at some point, too, but they don’t seem to be as critical or prescriptive about how they think a medical professionals should treat their patients.
I’ve observed this phenomenon quite a bit, having spent far more time in my career working in the national media than in education, but my response is exactly the opposite of Larry’s. When I see poor judgment writing about schools, I don’t think “how can someone so smart be so ill-informed?” Rather, I wonder, “if you’re this ill-informed on a