Teachers unions, barely visible in campaign against Rhee
One of the great political success stories of the past year has been teachers unions, against formidable odds, turning the tide against a movement toward more management flexibility and firmer metrics, championed by top officials of both parties, starting with President Obama.
That success has a few sources. One is that the self-styled reformers, under pressure to produce immediate results in a sphere where results take time, is under pressure to overstate gains, and the unions been effective at calling some of those claims into question. Another is the ability of the unions to, as in guerilla warfare, to blend into the populace, as seems to be done to good effect in theUSA Today sequel to its story calling Michelle Rhee's success into question.
Today's story reports:
More than 3,700 teachers and parents are petitioning the U.S. Department of Education and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to investigate....
The petitioners, led by a group of teachers and parents who opposed Rhee during her time in D.C., want an in-depth data analysis of the test scores....
"If she hadn't set up the expectation that these measures show her