More Thoughs on Whitney Tilson and My Essay on Brill's "Class Warfare"
No piece of journalism is ever perfectly-crafted or argued, and I think Matt Yglesias' defense of charter school donor/advocate Whitney Tilson, who I criticize in my essay on Class Warfare, is generally fair.
Yes, Tilson is a Democrat who has donated to many politicians who support progressive taxation and better social services for the poor. I admire Tilson for being one of the "Patriotic Millionaires for Fiscal Strength," signing a letter in support of raising taxes on wealthy folks like himself. And I'm a commited reader of Tilson's invaluable, though sometimes overheated, school reform newsletter.
The point I tried to make in my essay, however, was not, as Matt writes, that "the focus on schooling is kind of a mask for people who want to avoid grappling with other inequities." I agree with Tilson, and with Matt, that school reform is a productive lever for social change--if I didn't believe that, I wouldn't be devoting my professional life to
