What Makes Mike Petrilli An Expert on Anything, Particularly Anything about Teachers?

The NYTimes has an interesting piece on schools run by teachers, and who is the first neolib sludge tanker to condemn it.  That's right:

. . . . They say that most teachers have neither the time nor the expertise to deal with the inner workings of a school, like paying bills, conducting fire drills and refereeing faculty disputes.

“Ever try to plan a vacation with a large extended family? That’s what it’s going to be like,” said Michael J. Petrilli, a vice president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, an education policy group in Washington. “It’s a good idea in theory, but there are just a handful of teachers who can pull it off.” . . . .

Well, at least Petrilli has a BS in Political Science, and look where where those bona fides got Margaret Spellings.  Oh, yeah, he taught in a corporate training camp and he is pals with Checker Finn.

Ever been in a real school?  Ever taught a real class? Ever knew a real teacher?  Good questions for any ed reporter to ask while jotting down the wisdom of Mikey, don't you think.