Dear Deborah, Well, we have been blogging for more than a year now, and there was bound to be a screw-up sooner or later. The only question was: who would be first to do it, you or me? The answer is in (drum roll): It is me. My previous post ("Reports, Reform, and Hype," June 24) was actually a response to your last post ("Blaming Teachers," June 30). I think this happened because you were so energ...

Dear Diane, You've caught me remembering what wasn't there. I reread A Nation at Risk, and—you are right-- it didn't claim that teachers were the enemy within. It even gave a few kudos to hard working teachers. It's interesting (to me) that I should misremember it. So how did we get from 1983 to 2008? I think that, in some ways, the argument put forth by A Nation at Risk is part of the problem. F...

Dear Deborah, I can't believe that we are debating the message of A Nation at Risk in 2008, a quarter century after it appeared! We have been agreeing so much lately that it is useful that we remember that we do have plenty of differences. That way, we can continue to try to bridge them. This is one issue where we definitely disagree. The reason that the commission that wrote Nation at Risk focused...

Dear Diane, "We live in interesting times." A statement generally said more in sorrow than joy—and that's how I've felt this week over the coverage of the two contrasting reports to which you referred. Probably not many folks will read either, but many will notice the gist of each. David Brooks's interpretation is the oddest. It's probably the first time in my life I've been labeled part of t...

Dear Deborah, To answer your question, "How come, since there are more teachers than policymakers," the policymakers get to run the show? Easy. Public education is controlled by laymen, not professionals. Decision-making power is placed by law in the hands of the local board of education, the state board of education, and the federal department of education. Lots of others influence policy, includi...