Frederick M. Hess's Blog
"Washingtonitis"? Weingarten's Too Clever By Half
by Frederick M. Hess • May 13, 2010 at 11:21 am
Cross-posted from Education Week
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On Tuesday, over at the National Journal blog, AFT honcho Randi Weingarten blasted those who would use Harkin's unfunded $23 billion bailout as an opportunity to overhaul problematic, industrial-era labor practices that inflate costs and consume scarce dollars. She termed the Education Trust's proposal--that federal bailout aid be made contingent on states striking down strict "last hired, first fired" policies--to be a harmful and "academic" example of "Washingtonitis." Now, there are reasonable questions to ask about the proposal (does it just apply to state statutes? Would it impact contracts?), but it's a smart idea that would lend hard-pressed districts essential flexibility as they scramble to close yawning shortfalls. And, for the record, I'm not at all sold on Weingarten's assertion that thinning the teacher ranks--if done sensibly (which is what the proposal helps make possible)--would hurt students.
Now, it's one thing for Weingarten to argue that the proposal is a bad idea. But notice that she carefully avoids doing that, because it would be one more blow to her effort to market herself as a "reformer." Instead, she plays a too-clever-by-half lawyer's dodge, in which she claims that now is not the time to worry about anything other than pushing cash--and that only those suffering from "Washingtonitis" would think otherwise. The unspoken
Frederick M. Hess's Blog
Mike Johnston, Superstar
by Frederick M. Hess • May 13, 2010 at 8:46 am
Cross-posted from Education Week
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Big news yesterday out of the West. While at the NewSchools Venture Fund Annual Summit, got word that Mike Johnston's path-breaking teacher quality bill (SB 191) had made it through the Colorado House on a 27-8 vote. This, as I've said previously in the midst of the fight over Florida SB 6, is "seriously big stuff." Indeed, Pam Benigno, director of the Education Policy Center at the Independence Institute, called it a "landmark day in
