"Mallomar" Al Doblin: NJ Schools Are "Eh"

"Mallomar" Al Doblin is always looking for the soft, squishy middle: this time, it's in NJ's schools:

In New Jersey, there are stellar schools, solid schools and places no child should ever be sent to for an education. The idea that some superhero will rescue you is childhood fiction. That is Canada’s point. He says that when he realized there was no Superman, he was filled with dread.

That's how a "centrist" describes our schools. I prefer facts:

8th Grade NAEP scores

Yes, Al, there are bad schools in NJ. But, as a state, we are awfully high up the food chain. Saying, "Well, some schools are good; some are bad" doesn't really give an accurate picture.

The deck is stacked against public schools for many reasons. Some are controllable. Christie’s war on teacher unions may result in more flexible contracts and in work practices that retain the best teachers.

And it may also drive the best and the brightest out of the profession, and unfairly punish teachers using an evaluation system that every expert who has studied the issue says is riddled with flaws.

But why does Christie get the benefit of the doubt at all? Don't you read the paper, Al?

Our children do not need Superman. They need Clark Kent. They need a mild-mannered regular guy or gal to argue with teachers and administrators, to push other parents to become involved in school activities, and most important, our children need us to push them.

Aside from the incoherence of this sentence, why does Doblin assume that it would be good for students to have more people arguing with teachers? Is he, once again, ascribing good faith to those who are bashing teachers when little is actually there?

This is Doblin: yes, there are great teachers, but we need to argue with them. It's a "centrist" position, right in the soft, squishy middle, so it must be wise...

Al Doblin (staff photo)