Miguel Guhlin blogs here about conflicts involving blogs, teachers and students, but the conflicts he refers to have broader implications, too. How much freedom to teachers have, in fact? Teachers like to think they are the ones in charge of what students are learning, but in reality their hands and feet are tied in so many little ways. A more realistic image might be that schools and institutions are created, and many people are hired to run these places; amongst those hired are teachers, but they are by no means the most important, nor are they the ones making the key decisions. They are hired to fill a slot.