We have a critique

Last post, I mentioned a couple of reasons for the recent dearth of commentary here. Another was the lack of responses. Real blogs have people agreeing, arguing, and accusing the blogger of being an arch-villain. In the category of be careful what you wish for, tonight I received responses to a couple of fairly ancient posts (September 10 and August 15). Unfortunately, Anonymous won't set any standards for either civil discourse or reasoned argumentation. He or she does make a couple of interesting points, however:

• He or she argues that the insurance deal I discussed saved MPS $17 million. This would be major news, if true. $17 million is the sort of money that would have a significant impact on the perennial budget shortfall. Since I played a crucial role in pushing MTEA and the MPS administration to keep working on this deal, I would add it to my resume, if I believed it. Unfortunately, I don't believe it. If it were true, I believe both the MPS administration and the MTEA would be broadcasting the good news about cooperation. And under the deal, the teachers would get a part of this savings. At a time when good news about MPS is sorely lacking I find it hard that news of this sort would be buried.
  
• In the other post I commented on an exchange between a retired teacher arguing that MPS teachers are underpaid (but actually talking more about working conditions) and a current teacher taking the risky position that they are not. I expressed some concern about the latter's relations with his colleagues. Anonymous adds to those concerns by saying he or she works with that teacher and then proceeding to disparage him. Perhaps in person Anonymous is both charming and tolerant of disagreement, but based on Anonymous's anonymous comments, I don't envy that teacher.