How to say absolutely nothing in as many words as possible.

Politicians on the campaign trail are infamous for making speeches that contain little, if any information.  They're not the only people who do that.

A May 14, 2014 article in the Standard-Times (reprinted in the NBEA weblog) illustrates the hollow nature of Pia Durkin's turnaround plan.  The overabundance of slogans and buzzwords is worthy of a Dilbert satire.

"a new beginning, one that would ensure excellence for every child in every school."
"the people of New Bedford"
"outcry for dramatic change"
"bold steps"
"countless parents, teachers, students, and leaders from business, nonprofit and higher education institutions"
"rare opportunity"
"ambitious District Accelerated Improvement Plan"
"A bright future"
"strong turnaround plan"
"dynamic administrative team"
"redesign team"
"emphasize a safe, positive school culture"
"extensive professional development"
"emphasize strong core instruction"
"jumpstart their acceleration toward achievement gains"
"refuse to be discouraged by setbacks and skeptics"
"institute significant reforms"
"inform and engage"
"involve the school communities"
"important to engage the teachers"
"amplify their voices"
"diverse cohort of teachers"
"provide the support they need"

This isn't all of them.  It's just a good representative sample of really exciting but ultimately meaningless slogans, sound bites, and chunks of rhetoric.

One of the lessons I've tried to teach my own children is that the bulk of ordinary people don't think a whole lot.  People make decisions, sometimes very critical decisions based solely upon how they feel.  People vote for the political candidate who is most charming, best looking, or tells the funniest jokes without knowing anything about their record.  As one very slow speaking Palin supporter put it, "She's got the hooooly spirit in her."  Sure Jethro, let's put her in charge.

People see a beautiful model advertising a particular brand of clothing, automobile, or liquor and somehow get the idea that they'll become more beautiful, more successful, and more popular if they simply buy the product.

People don't think, and those who craft political speeches, commercial advertisements, and Pia Durkin's Standard-Times article all attempt to take advantage of this human weakness.

Read her article and try to nail down exactly what she's going to do and how it will significantly improve the academic performance of New Bedford's students.  I bet you can't even come close.

Durkin's "strong turnaround plan" will no doubt produce some useful and impressive numbers for her to crow about, but it won't precipitate any permanent change in the local culture.  Student performance isn't poor because of bad teachers.  Student performance is poor because academically gifted people are not respected by their peers.  Go into any high school in America and ask some of those "countless students" who the most popular kids are.  The school brain rarely makes the list.  In fact, being a good student in some communities is a good way to get beaten up every day after school for making everyone else look bad.  Strangely, Durkin doesn't mention that problem in her article.

Pia Durkin has demonstrated how to say absolutely nothing in as many words as possible.