The Wit and Wisdom of John Huppenthal (Part Duh)

by David Safier

"The school year is off to a great start," Ed Supe John Huppenthal said.

How does Mr. Research know the school year is off to a great start?

"We're getting a lot of feedback that students are enthusiastic and parents are fully engaged."

Can you break that down for us, John, using your usual rapidfire statistics? Like, "With .001% of administrators and teachers reporting, and ignoring the .0005% whose reports we didn't like, we have statistically significant indications that students are enthusiastic and parents are fully engaged."

You know, I can accept the "students are enthusiastic" statement. Students tend to be enthusiastic at the beginning of the school year. But "parents are fully engaged"? What the hell does that mean?

Here's what Nicholas I. Clement, superintendent of the Flowing Wells Unified School District, had to say:

"We cut services. We reduced the number of services that we can provide our customers. It's been very difficult to make decisions about which service is more important than another."

[snip]

"We hear all the time that class size doesn't matter," he said. "It does matter."

Count one superintendent as less than enthusiastic about the state of his district's budget, though I have no doubt he's fully engaged. Something tells me Clement wasn't part of the positive feedback Hupp received.