The evangelical tone and history of American culture has long been identified as a force for anti-intellectualism. The metaphors of educational reform are a demonstration of how this plays out. The very nature of the positivist social science research used to support proposed reform is anti-intellectual and feeds a debate that favors extremes over moderation and pragmatism. In this article, the author relates the story of St. George and the Dragon to the efforts of transforming American schools. Instead of slaying dragons, the author recommends coming up with a more suitable metaphor. (Contains 3 notes.)