Mark Twain famously cautioned us to take from an experience only the wisdom that is in it and to stop there. That sensible admonition is routinely ignored in our overheated debate over education. The latest example? The reaction to last week’s firing of Cathie Black as New York City’s schools chancellor. Critics of education reform quickly rushed to declare it a verdict on the effort to improve schools overall, or at the very least, on non-traditional school superintendents — as though Black was the only one of that breed. You want nuance? Don’t look for it on this issue.

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