Hours after starting my blog, I heard from Jerry Bracey. If you are an education reporter at any sizable media outlet and never heard from Jerry Bracey, I am surprised. He dedicated himself to correcting, not always politely, what he saw as misinformation in education research and journalism. As a frequent recipient of his long analyses, let me tell you, he found misinformation everywhere.
News is flying through the lefty education world that Jerry has passed away. Susan Ohanian spoke with a friend who talked with his wife yesterday, who said he died in his sleep at his home in Port Townsend, Washington. (It goes against everything I learned in a decade at the Washington Post to type this without knowing more.) I can tell you he went to bed late, as his rant to me—about a piece on teachers in the L.A. Times—was mailed at 2:20 a.m. Typical Bracey.
I didn’t always agree with Jerry. I didn’t always understand Jerry. But I always appreciated his passion and his attempts to get journalists to think critically—and back himself up with data.
