Joel Klein Spews B.S. In Murdoch Street Journal

The b.s. in this Joel Klein-penned piece in the Murdoch Street Journal is pretty thick.

Klein obviously feels the need to defend himself and his tenure at the DOE.

Plummeting test scores and an achievement gap larger than before he ran the system despite hundreds of closed schools and four system-wide reorganizations doesn't give him such a stellar track record as chancellor.

So he uses this column in the newspaper to accuse everybody who is opposed to some or all of his reforms of being part of the "status quo" and champions his "turning the system upside down" to run it "like a business."

He applauds all the accountability, incentives, and competition he has added to the system and says that "poorly-structured, nonaccountable delivery systems cost a fortune and don't work."

He says small class sizes and curriculum don't matter much in education - only teacher quality does.

He defends his emphasis on charter school creation over traditional school support.

And he attacks the way the school system continues to run, saying that one teacher in front of a class of 20-30 students is "obsolete" and more innovative computerized and individual instruction is the wave of the future.

He points to the Harlem Success Academy as the model for a good school, saying that it proves that a students' economic background does not limit their potential in school in any way.

Over the next few days, I think it behooves the folks who opposed Klein's reforms and initiatives to respond to the propaganda and excuses Klein lays out in this Murdoch Street Journal piece.

I plan on doing several posts to push back against this Klein propaganda in detail.

What say you out there in the blogosphere? What points do you think are most important to push back on?