I’m just sayin’

by David Safier

The Republic has an editorial today, Charter schools aren't racist tool. It's a reaction to a study out of UCLA that says charter schools increase segregation. I kinda agree with the Republic on this one. So far as I can tell, the UCLA study is a bit over the top. It has some interesting observations which would be more valuable if they were pulled out of the overriding thesis linking charters and segregation.

But that's not really what I want to write about here. I often complain that the Goldwater Institute is used too often for "expert" opinions on the conservative/libertarian side, often without balance from other experts. But this time, the Republic went to another source, "Dr. Jay P. Greene, head of the Department of Education Reform at the University of Arkansas," as someone to refute the UCLA study.

It's nice to see an AZ paper find another expert for once, right?

Not so much. Dr. Greene is not some random ed prof. He's also a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, which I know enough about to say that it's similar to the Goldwater Institute in its philosophical and political leanings. Meaning, instead of getting an in-state conservative with a political agenda like, say, Matthew Ladner of G.I., the Republic got an out-of-state conservative with a political agenda like Dr. Greene.

Hmm. I wonder where the Republic might have found Dr. Greene, of all the ed PhDs in the country.

Here's a possible clue. Greene has a blog, Jay P. Greene's Blog. A frequent contributor is our own Matthew Ladner. Meaning the two guys are fairly closely linked. Could Ladner have been the person who suggested the Republic contact Greene? It seems very possible to me.

Let's see . . . what's on Jay P. Greene's Blog today? Why, it's a post by Ladner, about me! Golf Hecklers of the Arizona Left. Ladner refers to me, a bit tongue in cheek, as his left wing stalker.

You say stalker, Matthew. I say someone — maybe the only person in the state — trying to keep you honest. It's close to a full time job.

The subject of Ladner's post is my series on the Floridation of Arizona Education. It's more snark-filled than fact-filled, dealing with a few points I made and ignoring my major concerns. But hey, Ladner doesn't tell me what to write on my blog, and I don't tell him what to write on Dr. Greene's blog either.