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Monday, September 26, 2011

Brill: Colorado a reform bellwether | EdNewsColorado

Brill: Colorado a reform bellwether | EdNewsColorado:

Brill: Colorado a reform bellwether

Written by on Sep 26th, 2011. | Copyright © EdNewsColorado.org

If Steven Brill needed yet another reminder about the passionate level of debate over education reform, he got one during a Denver radio appearance earlier this month.

As a guest Sept. 7 on David Sirota’s program on AM 760, KTLK, also known as “Colorado’s Progressive Talk,” Brill found himself in an hour-long contentious debate in which his host challenged him on some of the central assertions in his controversial new book, Class Warfare.

Steven Brill (photo by Lewis James)

“Tell me when you’re finished, so I can talk,” Brill implored Sirota, more than once.

At one point, Sirota countered with “I’m part of this, you know. I don’t pretend to be a moderator. I’m part of this discussion here, whether you like it or not.”

Reflecting on that appearance in a recent interview with Education News Colorado, Brill expressed some lingering exasperation.

“He didn’t mention that his wife was a pro-union, anti-reform candidate for the board of education,” said Brill, who appeared on the show with New York-based