"Please Stop!": The 5 Dumbest Tropes in the EdReform Debate
I'm a big fan of Allie Brosh's comic blog, Hyperbole and a Half. As I engage with different people working in the school reform arena, I often encounter people who disagree with me. That's OK. But I'm also, and often, blindsided by crazy statements that make me want to scream,
and have all of the nonsense just reverse course or melt away. Trying to improve schools and society is hard enough, without the additional burden of stupid rhetoric that clouds the real issues, confuses the public, and makes it difficult to advance comprehensive solutions.
In the interest of retiring some nonsense statements once and for all (and relieving the tension in my head so I can be useful to society instead of descending into asneaky hate spiral), here are five such phrases that make even highly-educated, powerful people look and sound incredibly stupid. Don't let this happen to you!
1. "You're defending a failed system/the status quo."