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Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Former Georgia Gov. Barnes Courts Unions in Comeback Bid - Teacher Beat - Education Week

Former Georgia Gov. Barnes Courts Unions in Comeback Bid - Teacher Beat - Education Week

Former Georgia Gov. Barnes Courts Unions in Comeback Bid

Once again proving the importance of having union backing, former Georgia Gov. Roy Barnes is actively courtingteachers' association support in his bid for a comeback in the Peach state, according to the AP. He's even saying he might back off from a plan to put some teacher-pension funding into riskier investments.
While serving as governor, in 2000, Barnes advanced plans to dismantle due process for teachers. The move led him to lose support from state teachers' association, a situation that many credit with his subsequent re-election loss in 2002.
We just witnessed the inverse of that situation in Florida, where Gov. Charlie Crist vetoed an extremely unpopular bill that would have all but done away with tenure, and was rewarded with an endorsement by the Florida Education Association in his upcoming Senate race.
The Georgia news is particularly interesting given that Barnes co-chaired the Aspen Commission on No Child Left Behind. The group released a series of recommendations for renewing NCLB, one of which included denying