Breaking News: Weingarten Weighs In on Klein's Take on the DC Contract
by Frederick M. Hess • Jun 7, 2010 at 10:02 am
Cross-posted from Education Week
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Readers who were still beavering away Friday afternoon and checked in at RHSU saw Joel Klein ding me for understating the significance of the new DC contract. Klein argued that I was distracted by DC having given up on the "red and green" schedules, and that the final agreement represents a dramatic breakthrough, largely because it slays the "three dragons" of tenure, seniority, and lockstep pay.
Joel's take prompted reaction from some equally serious folks, including AFT chief Randi Weingarten. Randi shot me a thoughtful note on Saturday, rejecting Joel's take and arguing that it constitutes an effort to "misrepresent what was done in DC" so as to move the bar for contracts across the land. Having given Klein a chance to make the case for the DC contract, it only seemed fair to give equal airtime to Weingarten, who actually helped negotiate the contract. Plus, hard to think of a better way to judge the contract than to let these two smart lawyers debate their respective cases.
Contrary to Joel's vision of a smashing DCPS victory, Randi argues that in the final contract, "The divisiveness of red and green is gone. As to performance pay, the Union wanted to give all [teachers] the opportunity to participate in the individual pay plan--which is on top of the existing (Joel would say 'lockstep') pay plan. And
Klein Tells Me, "Not Quite, Big Guy"
by Frederick M. Hess • Jun 4, 2010 at 2:08 pm
Cross-posted from Education Week
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Regular readers of RHSU know that I like to fancy myself a shrewd analyst of matters political, contractual, and such. But at least one reader would like to offer a second opinion on yesterday's post.
My good friend Joel Klein called yesterday after reading my take on the new DC teachers contract to tell me I'd missed the boat. Klein, chancellor of the New York City schools, didn't buy my assertion that, "[DC's] agreement is expensive and less of a radical shift than Rhee's initial vision, but it represents remarkable progress in a city where decades of contracts traded big raises for little or no meaningful change." I saw the deal as a big win for reform, but thought it less dramatic than her initial "red-green" proposal--in which new teachers (and volunteering vets) would switch to a "green" schedule by trading tenure for big dollars.
Klein thought even my generally positive stance is selling the agreement way short, and he took the time to walk me through his thinking. I thought he made a pretty solid case for the significance of the agreement, and
