“Now I have to work hard not to show my active discomfort when graduate students come to me and say, as they often do, “I have worked in schools for a few years, and now I am ready to shape policy.” Every fiber of my beings wants to say, “Use your time in graduate school to become a better practitioner and get back into schools as quickly as possible. You will have much more profound effect on the education sector working in schools than you will ever have as a policy actor.” (page 34)

Elmore, Richard F. I Used to Think..And Now I Think..: Twenty Leading Educators Reflect on the Work of School Reform. Edited by Richard F. Elmore. Cambridge: Harvard Education Press, 2011.