Listening to Arne Duncan talk about charters to a planeful of reporters on the way to Madison last week almost makes you feel sorry for the guy.

"On your second point, on charter caps, I've been really clear I'm not a fan of charter schools, I'm a fan of good charter schools. And what we need in this country is just more good schools. We need more good elementary, more good middle, more good high schools. No second grader knows whether they're going to a charter school, or a gifted school, or traditional school, or magnet school. They know, does my teacher care about me? Am I safe? Is there high expectations? Does the principal know who I am? We need more good schools. And where you have -- where you have good charters, we need to replicate them and to learn from them and to grow. Where you have bad charters, we need to close them down and hold them accountable. And so this is not let a thousand flowers bloom, this is trying to take what is being successful and grow. And what I would say is if something is working, if you reduce - - we talked about the graduation rate, if you're doing something to reduce the dropout rate and increase the graduation rate, would you put a cap on that strategy? Would you ever say that we're going to cap the number of students who can take AP classes this year? We're going to limit the number of kids who take -- we're going to limit the number of kids that graduate? We would never do that. So if something is working, if that innovation is helping us get better, why would you put an artificial cap on it?"

OK, breathe....

Yes, it sounds goofy -- and it is. He's just not making sense.

1) Arne's plans don't support the development and expansion of good schools. His list of indicators for a good school ("Does my teacher care about me?" etc.) is not what your plans measure.

2) "This is not let a thousand flowers bloom." No, that's exactly what it is. He is demanding that states let a thousand -- or more -- charters "bloom" -- or infest the ground -- by mandating the lifting of charter caps.

3) "So if something is working... why put an artificial cap on it?" But charters demonstrably are NOT working. That part is just a lie. But I guess at this point Arne can plead insanity.