The Next Battle Of Pea Ridge! And, A Dash Of Intellectual McCarthyism On The Left…

This one has all the ingredients for a really good spat: Start with a heaping cup of ideology, add a melted stick of the Arkansas Education Association, a reduction of the National Education Association, a pinch of The Manhattan Institute, a dash of Waltons and a heaping spoonful of lefty bête noire Jay Greene!

Going to be fun to watch. More seriously, just one thought per the AEA-NEA attack on Greene. Sure, you can criticize some of his studies, Eduwonk has, but the teachers’ unions don’t. Instead, it’s his generalized support for vouchers that is causing the angst. It sounds suspiciously like a litmus test. Academic freedom anyone? Agree or disagree with them as a policy prescription, it seems like promoting vouchers falls pretty squarely within that tradition. This is, after all, an unsettled issue.