Many of the nation's big thinkers in the education reform movement took a road show to Little Rock, Arkansas last week, offering their pearls of wisdom to assembled state school superintendents, lawmakers and sundry others. Descending on the Doubletree Hotel in Little Rock were no less than seven of the eleven members of the Koret Task Force on Education, including such notables as Checker Finn, E.D. Hirsch, and Terry Moe.

And they didn't pull any punches (not that this group ever does). While allusions to higher teacher salaries and more prestige for teachers won predictable applause, other ideas and comments weren't met with such accolades—such as Stanford professor Terry Moe's assertion that "there isn't any good evidence that people who go through education schools and get certification are better teachers than other people are." Reed Greenwood, a dean at the ed school of the University of Arkansas, rose to ed schools' defense, noting that colleges provide a "gatekeeper service" for schools, determining which people are qualified and effective.