Mixed metaphors-forests or bandwagons?!

So, why are those of us who research and practice in Education not getting angry or organised (or both) about what is going on. Take a look at Warwick Mansells blog: http://www.educationbynumbers.org.uk/2011/02/18/michael-gove-and-the-launch-of-the-education-bill/comment-page-1/#comment-9839
Here is a really forensic examination of what was said in Parliament and the shifting sands on which current policy is being pushed helter skelter forward. Selective use of research is, of course, nothing new in terms of educational argument or policy. Building up a folklore around education, and 'what works' has been going on for well over a century. Reading about the 1950s recently, I was struck by the need to get your child into a grammar (and the high drop out rate of working class children from said grammars, a point not often mentioned nowadays). The Telegraph recently ran an article about a school which has three classes being taught together with good results and there was a suggestion this could be a good idea. Being a 70s trained teacher, I mused on the difference in what this school was doing and the now derided 'team teaching'. As my hero, Sir Alec Clegg said in 1974- "What will educational historians say about the transformation of our primary schools since the last war? They will no doubt write about open education, vertical grouping,
activity methods, free choice and other clichés which were the verbal shorthand of
those that started it all and knew what they were doing, but which more recently have
become the jargon of those who have jumped on the bandwagon but cannot play the
instruments." Sir Alec was talking about those who tried to put good ideas into practice without the skills necessary to do it well. Much of what passes for informed policy is about those who have jumped on the education bandwagon but cannot play the instruments. After all it's good to be on a wagon with lots of important people. However, I do think it gets to the stage when those of us who really know about instrument playing have to stand up and say 'Look, there is another side to this argument', but I think that's where the forest come in.- the campaign against the government's policy on forests has been well run, and of course has prompted a u turn. What did it tap into? It certainly had a well organised clear campaign that channelled the depths of anger out there. The anger came from something deep about England and forests and individual rights. We can all relate to trees!Tapping into raw emotion about the forests got them saved for another day. In education too many of us believe we know in our gut what would work well, without ever considering the evidence carefully. You need a balance of passion and knowledge, and what I would love to see is a SOS who has both, or if that's not possible, heads, teachers etc tapping into their own passion about education, tempered by years of experience, to suggest alternatives. It's the least the young people of today deserve?