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Teaching the teacher some grammar

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Former students at Central Falls high school take part in a candlelight vigil in support of teachers, outside the school in Central Falls, R.I. on Tuesday, March 9, 2010. Students and graduates from a troubled Rhode Island high school want to reverse a decision to fire all its teachers in a move meant to improve student performance.
Photo: Michael Dwyer / AP Images
Wed, Mar 10, 2010 (11:33 a.m.)

I'm watching CNN and listening to one of the 70-some teachers who got fired at Rhode Island's Central Falls High School. The teacher, attempting to refute the statistics given by those who allege the school is under-performing, said this: "Don't believe everything you hear about statistics."

The teacher clearly meant to say, "Don't believe all the statistics you hear," but if you consider his exact words, you'll see that his comment wasn't about statistics at all; it was about comments about statistics. So it was self-defeating. He might as well have said, "Don't believe everything you hear about statistics. For example, my previous sentence."

All I'm saying is this: if the guy taught English, Central Falls probably made the right decision.

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