The Folks Who Have Decided the Future of Education in Detroit (& Their Invisible Suits of Clothes)

From the decayed, desolate, and desultory ruins of Detroit, a band of heroes have ventured forth from the comfort and safety of their regal boardrooms to deliver the true path to educational salvation to a city yearning for imposed solutions by people who know nothing about education. Hurrah! We are delivered!

I realize that it is the height of ungratefulness for me, who is not only a commoner, but as a teacher with a Masters Degree and fourteen years experience, I am one of those evil ones who have blighted the futures of the children of Detroit. How sad that I would rather dwell in darkness than accept the revealed truth. But as far back as when I was a kid and I saw that naked guy that everyone else was sure would be a great President, I've never known when to keep my mouth shut. You'd think I'd have learned from Mr. Invisible Clothes, but no, here I go again. It's a character flaw that I guess will be with me to the end.

So where to begin in examining our dynamic team of self-appointed saviors? There is the fact that they are self-appointed. They have no sanction, no standing, no mandate, no clothes. Now my friends at school and I have been known to sit around and discuss what needs to be done to fix the Detroit Public Schools, but when we announced our plans, there was no media coverage. The only attention we got was from the bartender who told us to keep it down. Apparently we were scaring the college students.

So why is everyone bowing and scrapping to our heroes and ignoring me and my friends? MONEY, that's MONEY. They got it, we don't. They're rich and we're poor and it's always going to be that way. Yes, I know it's a shock that in this great country of ours MONEY brings with it unlimited power and influence. If this fact is too much for you, just make yourself a nice cup of herbal tea, go on-line, and download an inspiring Horatio Alger tale or two. Your faith will return.

Let's take a look at the sources of wealth from which the paragons of educational expertise get their educational bona fides. (The difference between MONEY and wealth is that the generation that commits the crime has MONEY. The descendants have wealth. Joe P. Kennedy had MONEY. Teddy had wealth. The first generation is the thief. The latter generations are the launderers.)

Tomorrow we'll start looking at the cast of characters and following the MONEY.