There’s a weird editorial in today’s Times detailing some proposed changes to the teacher education system. I guess it’s somewhat humorous that the author argues that major colleges do not support teacher education while she is serving as an adjunct at a major college. Plus, Harvard, Penn, Stanford, Columbia, Wisconsin do have extraordinary education departments; teacher education just isn’t their primary focus.

There’s another strain of argument in this essay that I found even more problematic: it’s the best and brightest argument, as if the teachers who presently choose to teach don’t qualify. There’s plenty of really bright folks who for various reasons don’t go to Harvard or Yale; some of them actually become great teachers. This best and brightest argument fuels TFA, as if the magic of an elite college education provides something that can’t be found elsewhere…