I know there's a verb there somewhere

Or maybe a preposition.

I'm working on a couple of ed reform pieces, one on the recent charter school scandals and another going still deeper into the role of big money in the reform movement, picking up where my recent Monkey Cage piece (Vergara vs. California: Are the top 0.1% buying their version of education reform?) left off.

The following quote, from our old friend Jennifer Alexander, might work for both pieces, assuming I can figure out exactly what she's saying.

Jennifer Alexander, the chief executive officer of the pro-charter group, ConnCAN, said she welcomed an examination of how it oversees charter schools, prompted by the Jumoke and FUSE scandal.

"I think it is an important moment that signals a need to revisit and update Connecticut's charter law so that it keeps pace with best practices nationally, including clarity around areas of accountability and transparency -- but, I think, also flexibility and funding," she said.

The part about clarity around transparency is bad enough but what's really giving me trouble is the "flexibility and funding." I think she means "but also keeps pace with best practices including flexibility and funding." Given ConnCan's well-known positions, that would mean keeping up with the states that offer charters the most freedom and money. If that's what she means, it's an extraordinary response to the latest in a string of charter school scandals that appear to have cost taxpayers billions of dollars and denied quality education to some of the very kids who needed it most.

But she could mean 'clarity around flexibility and funding,' which would be a problem since I have no freaking clue what she means by 'clarity.' Unless anyone in the audience has any suggestions, I may just give up on this one.

As Bruce D. Baker of Rutgers can tell you, trying to follow a ConnCAN argument will not be good for your blood pressure.