Poverty Not Destiny?: Masking Corporate Agendas
EducationNov 8, 2011Release a report, make it appear like scholarly research (include footnotes, charts, graphs, and data), and suggest something provocative such as “teachers are overpaid”—the result? The media gives the claim and report a free and frequent ride.
Walt Gardner, on his blog, has lamented about this exact phenomenon concerning The Heritage Foundation report, “Assessing the Compensation of Public-School Teachers” by Jason Richwine:
Ordinarily, I wouldn’t bother to comment about the study because none of it says anything that is really new. But because the media is giving it big play, I can’t let the facts cited slide by. . . .If an author wants to make headlines, the surest way is to be provocative. But just because charges appear valid at first glance doesn’t necessarily make them so. As I’ve written before: If teaching is
