Monday, February 09, 2004

This guy obviously doesn't know the meaning of ad hominem 

Remember the teacher whose House testimony on the social science standards consisted of a recitation of who placed where in a debate meet? (Scroll down to the 1/27 report and read testimony for the minority report.) He's at it again:
"As a member of this committee, I found it strange that the users of the public system (i.e. public school parents, teachers and administrators) were grossly underrepresented, while the non-users of traditional public schools (i.e. private and charter personnel, home-schoolers and ideologues who have little contact with public school children) were grossly overrepresented, given the tiny percent of the population they represent.

"Minnesotans ought to know that not one public school administrator served on the final committee, yet a private school headmaster was given a starring role. This is especially strange as private schools are not held to these standards."

It's a shame this guy is out writing and speaking, as he makes it hard to take the co-signers of the minority report seriously. But to these people, it's all personal: supporters of the proposed standards can't just be wrong, but must be seen as benighted. And their choice of exiting the public school system is prima facie evidence of their benightedness. It is this vision of the anointed, as Thomas Sowell wrote almost a decade ago, that impels this teacher to speak in this way. I have another example, but that will wait for tomorrow.

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