Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Arts Education, Chinese Food and Matt Yglesias’ Tale of Non Sequiturs

Arts Education, Chinese Food and Matt Yglesias’ Tale of Non Sequiturs:


Arts Education, Chinese Food and Matt Yglesias’ Tale of Non Sequiturs

You know the saying: one is a coincidence, two is a pattern, three makes you a certified glutton for punishment.
For months I’ve watched Slate writer Matt Yglesias flail away, writing on education issues. First, he tried to pit teachers unions against taxpayers in a smug piece on the Chicago Teachers Union strike. Then he analyzed the phony StudentsFirst report card, treating it like an objective measure of state education policy rather than an ideological wish list of Michelle Rhee‘s pet priorities.
It was at that point that I started counting the days until Dana Goldstein, one of the best writers anywhere on education policy, completes her book and reclaims Slate’s education beat. After reading Yglesias’ latest big brain idea, Dana’s return can’t come soon enough.
How do you respond to a blog penned by someone who writes this, comparing neighborhood public schools to being forced to eat at the nearest restaurant?
In the best case scenario you’d have a neighborhood that wasn’t