I came across a great article in my feed reader this morning. 

Written by Mark Brandon—a professor of law at Vanderbilt University—it highlights some of the virulent anti-school teacher rhetoric being spewed by legislators in Tennessee. 

He writes:

From the floor of the state Senate, tea party Republican Jim Summerville recently warned Tennessee’s teachers to mind their own business where education reform is concerned.

"Make no mistake,” he said, "the final responsibility is ours — and we are warriors.”

Lest his point be missed, Sen. Summerville added, "We will bend public education to our awe, or break it all to pieces.”

Sure sounds like the good Senator Summerville is putting Students First, huh?

What’s really crazy is his rhetoric doesn’t sound too far off from that spewed by one of my favorite dictators of all time, Benito Mussolini.

Don’t believe me?  Then check out this Mussolini quote:

Let us have a dagger between our teeth, a bomb in our hands and infinite scorn in our hearts.

It would have fit nicely into Summerville’s speech, don’t you think? 

Yup. 

And that should frighten you. 

Color me crazy, but I’m a firm believer that well-intentioned educational policy makers just shouldn’t sound so much like lunatics that took the world to the brink of destruction. 

I wonder how all of these union busters—and their buddy Ms. Rhee—plan to pick up the pieces of the system that they quite obviously intend to break.