AFT Policy Talk ... and Walk?
About a month ago, Eduflack wrote about AFT President Randi Weingarten's teacher quality treatises nailed upon the schoolhouse door, where the head of the nation's second largest teachers' union laid a vision for how AFT could get on board the new ed reform/school improvement train. At the time, I wrote that she was talking a good talk, but the real challenge would be how AFT, and Weingarten in particular, would be able to walk the walk.
The first stroll of such a challenge took place deep in the heart of Texas earlier this month, when Houston ISD Superintendent Terry Grier tried to use Weingarten's rhetoric to get his teachers' backing for a new teacher quality initiative that allows the school district to remove teachers with lagging student test scores. Grier's Houston experiment was unanimously supported by the Houston ISD School Board, but was loudly opposed by local teachers and by the national AFT. Eduflack reflects on the Houston showdown here, while the National Journal's Education Experts Blog provides some terrific insights and views here.
Coming out of Houston, there were many an education agitator wondering if AFT is indeed serious about being part of the reform agenda. After all, AFT is in the business of promoting teachers' jobs and boosting their benefits. The reform agenda is now focusing on teacher incentives and so-called quality issues, which leads quickly to a discussion of bonuses for some (but not all) teachers and the removal of teachers who are deemed ineffective. (Though Eduflack recognizes the rubric for effectiveness is one of the biggest sticking points in the game right now). So while AFT may be for reform and for teacher quality, can it ever really get behind any plan that will call for the removal of educators from the classroom or the professional entirely, particularly when they are dues-paying members protected under an AFT-negotiated collective bargaining agreement? How does the reform rhetoric translate into action?
While I'm not sure if AFT has figured out how it truly positions the union on the teacher quality issue (other than knowing that there are few in DC with the knowledge and experience on the issue with the ability to take real action like the AFT's Rob Weil), it is clear that AFT is not content in simply serving as the "loyal opposition" to the current education reform wave. Yes, AFT is going to do its share of criticism on policies such as Race to the Top, proposed budget cuts, and the expected ESEA reauthorization, but recent actions signal that AFT may also be looking for some common ground where it can move the needle, make a difference, and be a part of real reforms.