Lessons from Newtown, Kudos to AERA
by Frederick M. Hess • Dec 26, 2012 at 7:34 am
I've been surprised by some of the vitriol that greeted last week's short RHSU post on Newtown, in which I said it was disappointing to see anyone use the Sandy Hook tragedy as a way to score debating points. I thought the reaction may have hit a nadir when self-proclaimed Florida school safety advocate Lowell Levine wrote, "You just do not want to hear the truth ---it is writers like you who are in denial and contribute to violence in schools. You are a shame to your profession. Good by and have a great life------A$$@#%&!!!!!... You are a disgrace to the education world for children --you refuse to write the truth about what is going on in Public Schools. You should be working in a supermarket and asking the customers--paper or platic?" [sic]
Given this kind of response, I thought it might be useful to elaborate. Since this is a week when we're often a bit closer to the better angels of our nature, perhaps a bit of reflection can soften, ever so slightly, our bitter debates in the year ahead. After all, some, like blogger Mike Klonsky, seemed to think that I had a problem