...a letter from an irate parent (guess who); you won't find it in the Post

Although my letters have occasionally merited responses from the Washington Post Ombudsman or individual reporters, reporting and perspective on the topic of education is predictably narrow.

Dear Sir:

I am outraged by the Post editorial ( Mr. Smith goes to Harvard. ) I have excerpted ( in red ) the lines that are particularly slanted and unsubstantiated and have responded briefly to them below.

This editorial clarifies the unbalanced position that the Post takes when it comes to the unfortunate and rampant destructive forces of a federalized public school system. It is clear that the revenues the Post Corporation enjoys from educational enterprises ( Kaplan Inc ) outweighs their conscience and their honesty when it comes to fellow supporters of a bad plan ( NCLB. )

Mr. Smith's departure is a setback for Anne Arundel schools, which made impressive strides during his three years at their helm.
Only if you buy into the concept that standardized curriculum based on standardized testing measures success or progress.

Having come from Charlotte, where he was lionized as an educational wunderkind for having narrowed the racial achievement gap between black and white students,
In Charlotte, Smith received the very same reactions to his arrogance, his improprieties and his master plan. Meanwhile, the drop out rate during his tenure grew and the teachers morale diminished.

He was clear on his priorities: to raise standards across the board while also righting decades of wrongs by insisting that the least advantaged kids be pushed, coaxed and cajoled into the same demanding, quality courses available to more affluent students.
He has a catchy slogan; how does this distinguish him?

After three years, his program achieved plenty. Black high school students' scores rose on standardized tests;
participation in Advanced Placement courses more than doubled; and every county elementary school met state testing targets
But their scores on SAT's did not. Neither did they in our county.
Again, the catchy slogan...does anyone but Jay Mathews and the Post/Kaplan/CollegeBoard/McGrawHill/et al family of "educational" investors really buy the AP explosion as anything but a great market? The current applications of this once advanced program in our schools lacks everything the rest of the standard practises lack and in application and delivery, suffers the same limited outcomes.

Parents liked him
Where do you get the information to make such a statement. If you want to make a sweeping statement about parents, why don't you qualify how you can substantiate it. It is a fabrication and a stretch of facts to imply that the parents of Anne Arundel County have a singular voice in support of Smith.

the headaches outweighed the rewards
Smith's headaches happened to be the realities highlighted in a second audit which pointed to many new and more of the same improprieties that were part of Smith's legacy during his tenure in A.A. County. He was also facing a vote of no confidence from the teacher's association following the very negative results of their survey.

He took a job at Harvard University
The position he took at Harvard is an internship of sorts, not a paid position as you imply. And the suggestion that Harvard is the ideal that everyone holds in such monumental esteem is elitist and ridiculous at best.