I just read with interest and an open mind the Rhino’s detailed account of liberal columnist Leonard Pitts’ speech at the Guilford Education Alliance’s 2008 Summit.
Pitts told stories “people and groups daring to make end runs around the public schools…depressed and frustrated about the way education is going in America, and daring enough to try something new anyway.” Turns out charter schools and private schools were played prominent roles in those stories, which Pitts gathered as part of his “What Works” series on education.
Readers of this blog know Pitts is not my favorite columnist, and I’ve made fun of his new role as education expert. It’s not a little surprising to see that we agree on some things.
But I was not so much making fun of Pitts’ speech as I was the way the N&R applauded it. With that in mind, I couldn’t help but notice that the Rhino simultaneously took note of the way the audience “ate it up” while “more likely missing the point.”
The real question is whether or not Guilford County Schools Superintendent Mo Green and the school really got Pitts’ point, or was he just part of the forthcoming propaganda machine getting ready to be unleashed? You have to wonder if Green’s main goal right now is to get us (and the N&R) standing and cheering in order to distract us from the bigger picture.
