The Other Trouble With 'Elites'
Posted: 01/19/12 12:10 PM ET
Wednesday morning, Denver progressive radio host David Sirota had DPS Superintendent (and Boulder, Colo. resident) Tom Boasberg on his show. The segment picked up on a point from Sirota's recent opinion piece, "America's dangerously removed elite": the significance of a high-profile school superintendent who, as neither an educator or a DPS parent, has virtually no stakeholder ties to the school district he runs.
Listening to Boasberg's comments, I was annoyed (though by now, not surprised) at his refusal to veer away from the standard DPS talking points, and I was grateful that I and other callers had the chance to address at least some of the problems he brushed over. But I spent the rest of the day irked by the fact that he didn't have to hear what was said, or question himself and his track record.
Though I'm skeptical by nature, I don't usually question the intentions of most people involved in this or other issues. For the most part, I find it's not a particularly useful exercise. I'm definitely