How to Say Nothing in the Greatest Possible Number of Words

Here’s an excerpt from an editorial by the superintendent of our local public schools:

Also, it should be noted that this leadership training is being done in conjunction with the implementation of the overall goals and objectives of the school district. Our initial concentration thus far has been on goal number one of the strategic plan: promote learning to the highest level for all of our students.

I wonder if that strategic plan includes teaching effective, concise communication?

Educators (and politicians) seem to be particularly prone to pretentious writing, often marked by long words and words ending in -ion (implementation, etc.)

A phrase like “it should be noted that” is superfluous. If it should be noted, just note it.

Long strings of prepositional phrases are always a red flag. There are four in the first sentence.

I’ve been trying to think of ways to rewrite these two sentences without all the mumbo jumbo . . . but I’m not sure he actually said anything at all.

I think he just means “We want students to learn as much as they can.”

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